Epilepsy and Coeliac Disease - Preliminary Results from a Cohort Study
Abstract number :
2.164
Submission category :
Year :
2001
Submission ID :
2107
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2001, 06:00 AM
Authors :
K. Luoma, MD, Neurology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; J. Peltola, MD, Neurology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; A. Auvinen, MD, School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; J. Isojarvi, MD, PhD, Neurology, University o
RATIONALE: The possible central nervous system (CNS) involvement in coeliac disease (CD) has gained attention during the recent years. An increase in the prevalence of epilepsy among the patients with CD has been reported. Furthermore, epilepsy among the patients with CD may sometimes be associated with bilateral occipital cortical calcifications (BOC). However, the prevalence of CD and BOC in patients with epilepsy has not been thoroughly investigated so far. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CD with or without BOC in a large hospital-based cohort of patients with epilepsy.
METHODS: All patients with epilepsy attending the Outpatient Department of Neurology at Oulu University Hospital over the period of 1996-1997 (n=1386) were requested to participate in this study. Control subjects matched for age, sex and municipality of residence (n=1386) were obtained from the Finnish Population Registry. Data regarding the histroy of antiepileptic medication, duration of epilepsy, type of epileptic syndrome, seizure frequency, coexisting diseases and the results of previous neuroimaging studies were collected by interviewing the patients and by viewing their patinet charts. In addition, serum samples for analysis of CD associated autoantibodies were obtained from 995 patients with epilepsy and 636 control subjects after their informed consent.
RESULTS: According to the interview and review of the hospital patient charts CD had been diagnosed in 20 patients with epilepsy (1,44%) and in 8 control subjects (0,58%) (p=0.023, [chi]2-test). BOC was visualized in the CT scan of the brain in two patients with epilepsy and CD (0,14%). Almost all of the patients with epilepsy and CD had localization-related epilepsy.
CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary results of this cohort study suggest that CD is more common among patients with epilepsy than among general population. Analysis of CD associated autoantibodies from the obtained serum samples of the epilepsy patients and the control subjects is underway to reveal the yet undiagnosed cases of CD in these two populations.