Epilepsy in over 60 years in a neurological center of reference in the city of Cali, Colombia

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: after the age of 50 the incidence of the novo seizures increases with each decade, leading to a prevalence of around 1.2% in patients over 60 years. This age group is 6.5% of the Colombian population, which allows us to calculate that in the country about 35,000 people in this age range have epilepsy, often underdiagnosed because the usual clinical presentation is different from other age groups.
OBJECTIVE: to describe the sociodemographic, clinical and paraclinical characteristics of the population over 60 years with the novo seizures in a neurological center of reference in the city of Cali.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: a descriptive retrospective study. Analysis of variables using frequencies, means and proportions.
RESULTS: sample 51 patients. Average age: 73 years. 47.1% had a history of hypertension, 37.3% had one or multiple cerebrovascular attacks ,events either as a clearly defined clinical picture, or just evidence of microangiopathic brain lesions. Seizures were focal in 60.7% of the patients, of whom 76.4% received pharmacological treatment with valproic acid as monotherapy and 90.2% of them is controlled.
CONCLUSION: in the population over 60 years, epilepsy occurs usually with a semiology of crisis different to that of other age groups, which should be taken into account during the medical consultation in order to identify them through a detailed medical history. It was found that low-dose valproic acid was an effective and safe drug in this population where the most common cause is cerebrovascular disease (CVD).