Hesdorffer DC, Kanner AM.
Colombia University, New York, NY, USA.
Epilepsia 2009;50:978–86.
Editor’s note: The current article is a further publication from the important Rochester Epidemiology Project, a medical records linkage system that details the care delivered to residents of Rochester and Olmsted County, Minnesota. The investigators compared the risk of mortality and subsequent unprovoked seizure risk following acute symptomatic seizure and first unprovoked seizure due to a static brain lesion. Individuals were included in the analysis only if their seizure occurred in association with stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and infection of the central nervous system. Acute symptomatic seizure was defined as a seizure in close temporal association with one of the above etiologies or transient systemic disturbance. The definition of “close” varied with the insult. A first unprovoked seizure was defined as a seizure occurring ≥1 week after the etiologies described above.