Abstracts

Hospitalization is not infrequent in the elderly population. We analyzed a group of veterans with newly diagnosed epilepsy with respect to there hospitalizations during the study. Demographics were analyzed including relationship to the study. Data was retrospectively obtained. We focused on our Denver population. This was a multi-center Veterans Administration Cooperative Study of new onset seizures in the elderly. No patients were profoundly demented or had known fatal illnesses. Concomitant medical diseases were permitted. Fifty charts were retrospectively reviewed from our Denver site. Thirty-three patients competed at least three months of the study. We found a total of 24 hospitalizations, 17 total patients. Five patients were intractable (greater than one seizure per month) with respect to their epilepsy. The mean age was 70.4 years old. There was no significant difference between those not hospitalized. Diagnosis for hospitalization include: Neurological/Psychiatry (progressive dementia and depression) two patients, Cardiac nine patients, Pulmonary four patients, four scheduled Surgeries, two Orthopedic patients, two Gastro-Intestinal bleeds, and one tracheal repair. All but two hospitalizations lead to a return to previous function. Six patients discontinued the epilepsy study because of the hospitalization. No hospitalization was related to the study drug. Hospitalization of patients enrolled in the VA Cooperative study #428 was common. The hospitalization did not appear to be related to the patients epilepsy or study medication. The most common diagnoses were Cardiac, Pulmonary and scheduled Surgeries. The hospitalizations would be expected in the elderly population such as ours.