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Emergent neuroimaging for seizures in epilepsy: A population study.

Authors :
Lamsam L
Bhambhvani HP
Ratliff JK
Kvam KA
Source :
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B [Epilepsy Behav] 2020 Nov; Vol. 112, pp. 107339. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Sep 07.
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

We determined how often patients with epilepsy presented to the emergency department (ED) for seizure and the frequency and predictors for undergoing emergent neuroimaging during those visits. We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using administrative claims' data from 2007 to 2015. Adults with epilepsy were identified based on a diagnosis of epilepsy and an outpatient prescription for an antiepileptic medication. The Bonferroni corrected significance level was 0.0018. We identified 381,362 patients with a mean follow-up period of 1.99 years, of whom 35,015 (9.2%) patients presented to the ED for seizure at least once. Patients with at least one ED visit were younger, more likely to be male, had fewer comorbidities, and had longer follow-up as compared with those with no ED visit (all p < 0.001). Among the 35,015 patients presenting to the ED, 13.6% had neuroimaging, mostly commonly head computed tomography (CT; 95.5%). Patients undergoing neuroimaging were younger (46 versus 48 years) and with higher rates of psychosis (17.4% versus 13.8%) and depression (16.1% versus 12.2%; p < 0.001). This helps to quantify the burden of ED and emergent neuroimaging utilization for patients with epilepsy and can help inform efforts to curtail unnecessary neuroimaging.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.<br /> (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1525-5069
Volume :
112
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
32911297
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107339