Prevalence of Drug-resistant Epilepsy in an Academic Hospital in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia
Abstract number :
193
Submission category :
16. Epidemiology
Year :
2020
Submission ID :
2422540
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/5/2020 9:07:12 AM
Published date :
Nov 21, 2020, 02:24 AM
Authors :
Mohammed Alshurem, King Fahad University Hospital | Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University; Mubarak Aldosari - King Fahad Medical City; Dana Aljaafari - 1-King Fahad University Hospital 2-Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University; Inam Khuda - 1-King Fahad U
Rationale:
The prevalence of epilepsy in the Saudi population is 6.54 per 1000 persons. About one-third of medicated epilepsy patients fail to achieve seizure control and are considered to have drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Here, we evaluate the prevalence and etiology of DRE in an academic hospital in Saudi Arabia and compare them to those of other populations.
Method:
Data were collected retrospectively for all patients who visited the epilepsy clinics of King Fahd University Hospital, AlKhobar, Saudi Arabia between January 2017 and December 2018. Patient demographics, seizure type and etiology, number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), and neuroimaging data were collected. Inclusion criteria included: 1) diagnosis of epilepsy per the ILAE definition, and 2) aged 14 or more years. DRE is defined by ILAE as the failure of adequate trials of two well-tolerated and appropriate AED regimens (as monotherapy or in combination) to achieve sustained seizure control.
Results:
Our study included 751 patients (56.3% male and 43.7% female). The mean patient age was 32.07 ± 12.2 years (range, 14 – 84 years). The average anti-epileptic medication per patient was 1.3. AEDs range: 1 - 4, (519) 69% single AED, (185) 24.6 % two AEDs, (47) 6.2 % 3 or more AEDs). Of all patients, 498 (66.3%) had focal epilepsy, 253 (33%) generalized epilepsy, and none was labeled as unclassified. The etiologies were unknown (63.3% [n=145]), structural (31.9% [n=73]), 3.1% (n=7) genetic, 1.7% (n=4) infectious, and no patients were labeled as metabolic or immune. MRI brain was lesional in (231) 30%. Of the 751 patients, 30.5% (n=229) met the ILAE definition of DRE (Figure 1). The etiology was unknown (63.3%, n=145), 31.9% (n=73) structural, 3.1% (n=7) genetic, 1.7% (n=4) infectious and no patients were labeled as metabolic or autoimmune (Figure 2).
Conclusion:
The prevalence of DRE in our population is close to the average prevalence of our compared population (36.5%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify the prevalence of DRE in Saudi Arabia.
Funding:
:None
Epidemiology