PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ismail, Hassan M.
AU  - Al-Sulaiman, Abdulsalam A.
AU  - Abolenin, Alaeddin A.
AU  - Al-Shammary, Shoaa
AU  - Al-Khamis, Fahd
AU  - Al-Qulaiti, Khalid
AU  - Abumadini, Mahdi S.
TI  - Newly diagnosed seizures in adults
DP  - 2003 Apr 01
TA  - Neurosciences Journal
PG  - 104--106
VI  - 8
IP  - 2
4099  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/8/2/104.short
4100  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/8/2/104.full
SO  - Neurosciences (Riyadh)2003 Apr 01; 8
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical, electroencephalographic (EEG) and computed tomography (CT) profile in a hospital population of over 18-years adult patients with newly diagnosed recurrent seizures.METHODS: The clinical profiles obtained from history including detailed description of the seizures, examination, EEG and CT findings were recorded prospectively for all over-18 patients who were referred to the electrodiagnostic service at King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1997. The data was entered into a standard database file and analyzed using a personal computer.RESULTS: Seventy-three patients (43 males, 30 females, mean age 32.3 years) with newly diagnosed recurrent seizures were studied. A positive family history of seizures was found in 12.3%. The main seizure types were partial in 27 (37%), partial with secondary generalization in 22 (30.1%) and generalized in 24 (32.9%). The types of epileptic syndromes included localization-related 34 (46.6%), generalized 24 (32.9%) and undetermined 15 (20.5%). The EEG was abnormal in 45 (61.6%) with epileptiform activity, focal in 22 (48.9%), generalized in 11 (24.4%) and non-epileptiform activity in 12 (26.7%). The cranial CT findings were normal in 44 patients (60.3%) and abnormal in 29 (39.7%) patients, with focal lesions in 19 (65.5%) and generalized cerebral atrophy in 10 (34.5%).CONCLUSION: Our results showed that partial and partial with secondary generalization seizures are the most frequent seizure type and the most common epileptic syndrome was the localization-related type in this age group. These results are comparable to previous population- and hospital-based western reports.