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Strokes and seizures can be linked, especially in older patients. Seizures can be caused by brain damage from a stroke, and strokes can cause seizures up to three months after the event. Hemorrhagic strokes are more likely to cause future seizures. Brain scans may be used to diagnose and treat both conditions.
Strokes and seizures, both involving abnormal activity in the brain, can appear independently and may even be linked, especially in older patients. In a stroke, a patient experiences brain damage caused by lack of oxygen in an ischemic stroke or hemorrhage and trauma in a hemorrhagic stroke. Seizures are periods of increased electrical activity in the brain that cause symptoms such as twitching, slurred speech, and confusion. Seizures are sometimes the result of brain damage, and as a result, a stroke can be the source of a seizure disorder in some cases.
In older adults who develop seizures, the cause is often a stroke. Sometimes a stroke is not identified when it occurs, only later, after symptoms of brain damage begin to develop. Seizures can occur up to three months after a stroke. In other patients, a stroke is detected at the time and treatment is provided, but seizures still develop. Strokes and seizures in the elderly are a cause for concern, as stroke survival tends to decline when a patient has a seizure during or shortly after a stroke.
Most commonly, a hemorrhagic stroke causes future seizures. In ischemic stroke patients, sometimes oxygen deprivation causes seizure activity while the stroke damage is still ongoing. Patients who appear confused and disoriented and then seizure may be having a stroke followed by seizures and should receive immediate medical attention. The link between strokes and seizures is known to many healthcare professionals, and stroke patients are usually given aggressive supportive care to stop the damage to the brain and limit the chance of developing complications such as seizures.
Seizures alone can be associated with traumatic brain injury, severe brain damage, and congenital conditions. In a person experiencing seizures, brain scans may be performed before, during, and after the seizure activity to learn more about what is happening inside the brain. Sometimes seizures can be controlled with medication, avoidance of triggers, and other measures, protecting the patient’s brain from seizure injury. In patients who have a younger onset of seizures, strokes and seizures may not be linked.
Strokes and seizures are generally not linked in the opposite direction, and a person with a history of seizures should not be at increased risk for stroke. Changes in seizure patterns may indicate the presence of brain damage or drug reactions, but are not necessarily indicative of a stroke. Brain scans may be done to look for telltale stroke damage if there is a concern, mainly a concern in older patients or patients with a family history of stroke.
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