ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of epileptic seizures in the perioperative period in patients who were diagnosed with a glial tumor.

This was a retrospective clinical study of the hospital files of 39 patients diagnosed with glial tumors in a single clinic between January 2016 and March 2018 as well as the data of the first 3 months of postoperative control. The glial tumor histopathological subgroup, presence of an isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation, radiological treatment feasibility of the site, deep or cortical location, and operative method were analyzed in relation to the incidence of epileptic seizures.

Of the 39 patients included in this study, the male/female ratio was 25/14. In all, 22 patients were diagnosed with a glial tumor after an epileptic seizure and 17 patients were initially examined for other complaints and subsequently diagnosed with a glial tumor. The functional field localization of the glial tumor in the preoperative period and the superficial location in the postoperative period were found to be statistically significant regarding epileptic seizure frequency.

Functional level, superficial localization, World Health Organization grade II, and awake craniotomy were correlated with decreased incidence of postoperative seizures in glioma cases. However, despite the postoperative use of antiepileptic drugs in these subgroups, the incidence of epileptic seizures varied between 27% and 50%.

Keywords: Epileptic seizure, glioma, isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation, awake craniotomy