EXPERIENCE OF THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH ONCOGENIC EPILEPSIA

Abstract

Epileptic seizures are a common symptom in brain tumor patients. The aim of the study: to investigate the features of oncogenic epilepsy in women of the fertile age. Material and methods. The study included 352 women aged of from 15 to 49 years, suffering from epilepsy. The examination consisted of an EEG and a high-field MRI investigation of the brain (1.5 Tc) with a scan interval of 1-2 mm. Results and discussion. Epilepsy against the background of volumetric brain formations was found in 15/139 (10.8%) patients with symptomatic focal epilepsy. The age of a debut of oncogenic epilepsy ranged from 2 to 38 years, the median was 14 years. Astrocytomas, found in 40% of cases, prevailed in the etiology of volumetric formations. A considerable time interval between the epileptic seizure debut and the high-field MRI examination was noted to result in the diagnosis of volumetric brain formation: median was 10.5 [2; 15] years. In the clinical picture of epilepsy there were dominated simple and complex focal seizures. Secondary-generalized tonic-clonic seizures were stopped in 60% of cases. The pharmacoinduced remission of oncogenic epilepsy was achieved in 3/15 (20%) cases. Conclusion. The low alertness of primary care physicians in terms of diagnosis of neuroncology in women of childbearing age was noted. The therapy of symptomatic oncogenic epilepsy was characterized by certain difficulties, caused by the growth of volume formation and/or gross cicatricial postoperative changes in the brain substance.