Cognitive Hazards of Seizure Disorders

Summary: : The relationship of a number of epilepsy variables to cognitive decline is reviewed. Underlying brain damage, seizure age of onset, type and frequency, and anticonvulsant drugs are all considered. Two investigations in which subgroups of patients with intellectual deterioration have been compared to those without such deterioration are presented, and certain conclusions are reached with respect to the most important factors that relate to decline. Recurrent tonicclonic seizures, head injury, the prescription of phenytoin, and low folic acid levels were all related to cognitive decline in one or both of the studies, and the implications of this for the management of epilepsy are noted.

[1]  S. Shorvon,et al.  Chronic toxicity in epileptic patients receiving single-drug treatment , 1982, British medical journal.

[2]  B. Bourgeois,et al.  Intelligence in epilepsy: A prospective study in children , 1983, Annals of neurology.

[3]  E. Reynolds,et al.  Serum Anticonvulsant Concentrations in Epileptic Patients with Mental Symptoms , 1974, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[4]  John Russell Reynolds Sir,et al.  Epilepsy: Its Symptoms, Treatment, and Relation to Other Chronic Convulsive Diseases , 1862, The British and foreign medico-chirurgical review.

[5]  S. Berent,et al.  Changes in Seizure Frequency and Test‐Retest Scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , 1981, Epilepsia.

[6]  Mark S. Seidenberg,et al.  Effects of Age of Onset of Tonic‐Clonic Seizures on Neuropsychological Performance in Children , 1981, Epilepsia.

[7]  W. Lennox.  BRAIN INJURY, DRUGS, AND ENVIRONMENT AS CAUSES OF MENTAL DECAY IN EPILEPSY , 1942 .

[8]  R. Wilkus,et al.  Neuropsychological Correlates of the Electroencephalogram in Epileptics , 1976, Epilepsia.

[9]  C. Matthews,et al.  Effect of Major Motor Seizure Frequency upon Cognitive‐Intellectual Functions in Adults , 1977, Epilepsia.

[10]  C. Dodrill.  Correlates of Generalized Tonic‐Clonic Seizures with Intellectual, Neuropsychological, Emotional, and Social Function in Patients with Epilepsy , 1986, Epilepsia.

[11]  E. Roseman.  Dilantin toxicity , 1961, Neurology.

[12]  S. Dikmen,et al.  The Effect of Early Versus Late Onset of Major Motor Epilepsy upon Cognitive‐Intellectual Performance , 1975, Epilepsia.

[13]  P. Ley.  Professional non-compliance: a neglected problem. , 1981, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[14]  Mark S. Seidenberg,et al.  Intelligence Test Performance of Patients with Partial and Generalized Seizures , 1985, Epilepsia.

[15]  J. A. Rosen.  Dilantin dementia. , 1968, Transactions of the American Neurological Association.

[16]  Epilepsy and Other Chronic Convulsive Diseases , 1882, Edinburgh Medical Journal.

[17]  M. Trimble,et al.  Phenytoin and cognitive function: effects on normal volunteers and implications for epilepsy. , 1981, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[18]  M. Trimble,et al.  Anticonvulsant Drugs and Cognitive Functions , 1982, Epilepsia.

[19]  G. Kirby Collier,et al.  Science and Seizures , 1942 .

[20]  J. Fielding.  The half-hour lactose "tolerance" test in adults. , 1980, Irish medical journal.

[21]  D. Turnbull,et al.  A comparison of phenytoin and valproate in previously untreated adult epileptic patients. , 1982, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.