Biography
Biography: Manjula Ricciardi
Abstract
Stroke is the most common cause of symptomatic seizures after middle age. Post-stroke seizures have been categorized as either early onset (ES) or late onset seizures (LS). ES are defined as those occurring within 7-30 days after stroke onset. Seizures occurring after this time frame are defined as LS. The frequency of seizures in stroke ranges between 2.3% and 14%. Early seizures are risks for recurrent seizures though not for the development of epilepsy but LS do carry a higher recurrence rate. Independent risk factors for post-stroke epilepsy include stroke severity, cortical symptoms, haemorrhagic stroke, total circulation infarcts, haemorragic transformation, young age at stroke, intravenous thrombolysis and ES. Post-stroke seizures identification has many implications for clinical practice. LS and epilepsy not only dramatically diminish the quality o life and cause serious morbidity but also negatively affects patient’s families and boarder community.