– Stroke is the leading cause of mortality and the main cause of disability in adults in Europe. According to the American Heart Association, “the profile of apoplectic personality is determined by systolic blood pressure greater than 160 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure higher than 95 mm Hg, family history of cardiovascular diseases, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, alcohol abuse and diabetes mellitus”. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the correlation between early and late epileptic seizures during and after stroke, and some heart diseases associated with hypertension. Ten-year records (January 1, 1989 till December 31, 1998) of the University Department of Neurology, Sarajevo University Clinical Center, were examined. There were 7001 stroke patients (53.6% with cerebral thrombosis, 17.35% with embolic etiology, 21.96% with intracerebral hemorrhage, and 1.17% with subarachnoid hemorrhage), with a 3.38% incidence of symptomatic epileptic seizures. The following cardiac diseases were considered relevant for the study purpose: absolute arrhythmia, subdecompensated heart state, well treated cardiac decompensation, angina pectoris, postmyocardial infarction state, and extrasystoles. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in the correlation with cardiac diseases between patients with early and late epileptic seizures. The patients with early epileptic fits had severe heart problems compared to those with late seizures. The former suffered from angina pectoris, heart decompensation and chronic subdecompensated state, yielding a ratio of 1.1 to 0.6. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups according to absolute arrhythmia. Study results suggested the patients with cerebrovascular disease and early epileptic fits to have a significantly higher rate of heart problems compared to stroke patients with late epileptic fits, in whom the morphological changes of the brain appeared neurophysiologically to act as an epileptogenic focus.

Association between epilepsy and stroke has been known since 1864. The pathophysiological basis of epileptic seizures during and after stroke are molecular changes that occur in ischemia as primary events, and in hemorrhage as secondary events. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of epileptic seizures during and after stroke, recorded over a 10-year period at the Department of Neurology, Sarajevo University Clinical Center. The study covered the period from January 1, 1989 till December 31, 1998. During the period, 7001 patients were treated at the Department. Cerebral thrombosis predominated (53.6%), whereas there were only 17.25% of patients with cerebral embolism, 21.96% with intracerebral hemorrhage, and 7.17% with subarachnoid hemorrhage. The incidence of symptomatic epileptic seizures for total patient sample according to years ranged from 0.75% to 6.67%. According to type of insult, the incidence of symptomatic epileptic seizures was 1.0%-3.37% for cerebral thrombosis, 1.22%-6.67% for cerebral embolism, 0.65%4.05% for intracerebral hemorrhage, and 1.34%-4.34% for subarachnoid hemorrhage. Associated epileptic seizures, i.e. the seizures accompanying the onset of stroke, were not included in the study. Results of the study showed that there were 75 patients with symptomtic epileptic seizures (47 with late seizures and 28 with early seizures, or 1.998% of total patient sample) during the 10-year period of observation. There were 36 cases of cerebral embolism (23 and 13 in the group of late and early seizures, respectively; 2.980%), 30 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage (23 and seven with late and early seizures, respectively; 1.951%), and seven cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (four with late and three with early seizures; 1.394%). According to stroke types and subtypes, hemorrhagic stroke was found to be a more common etiologic factor for the occurrence of early and late symptomatic epileptic seizures, whereas cerebral embolism in ischemic stroke was a more common cause of symptomatic epileptic seizures than cerebral thrombosis. During the study period, the years 1993, 1994 and 1995 were characterized by a small number of patients with symptomatic early and late epileptic seizures (9 in total). The incidence of early and late epileptic seizures in the sample of stroke patients during the study period ranged from 1.394% to 2.980%.