Predictors of Epilepsy in Children With Cerebrovascular Disease

Post-stroke seizures and epilepsy in children are a common but understudied complication. In this retrospective cohort study, the medical records of 65 children aged 0 to 18 years were analyzed to assess the risk of post-stroke seizures, detect the prevalence of post-stroke epilepsy, and ascertain which risk factors are associated with this condition in children. Forty-two patients (64.6%) had epileptic seizures following stroke (35 early, 7 late-onset), with most (78.5%) occurring in the first 24 hours. Nineteen children (29.2%) developed post-stroke epilepsy, which was significantly more common among patients with late-onset seizures (P=.034). There was a significant association between cortical involvement and development of epilepsy (P=.01). After Poisson regression, the relative risk of epilepsy was calculated as 2.4 in children with late-onset post-stroke seizures (95% confidence interval, 1.4-3.9; P=.001) and 3.7 in children with cortical involvement (95% confidence interval, 1.4-9.7; P=.009).