Military veterans who develop epilepsy following a traumatic brain injury might be more likely to die earlier than others with epilepsy.
However, their risk could depend on the cause of their brain injury, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Neurology.
"We recommend that people who develop epilepsy after a traumatic brain injury are closely monitored, and, especially if seizures do not respond well to treatment, are prioritized for surgery or changing to new medications without delay," senior researcher Dr. Zulfi Haneef said in a news release. He's a professor of neurology with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
For the study, researchers analyzed Veterans Health Administration records on more than 210,000 vets with epilepsy. Of these, nearly 29,000 developed the seizure disorder within five years of suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Related
