Caroline Ulep,1 Emma O’Keefe,1 Jennifer McQueeny,1 Andrew Mettias,1 Matthew Kao,1,2 Jannette Bow-Keola,1,2 Tyrone Sumibcay,1,2 Kore Kai Liow,1,2 Darren DuGas,1 Enrique Carrazana2
1 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and Video-EEG Epilepsy Monitoring Unit & Epilepsy Research Unit, Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience, Honolulu, HI
2 John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaiʻi, Honolulu, HI
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurring seizures. Seizure control is dependent on multiple factors, such as seizure type, comorbidity, and etiology. This study aims to analyze the relationship between these factors and seizure control status. This study conducted a retrospective chart review on 500 randomly selected epilepsy patients from Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience between January 2019 and July 2020. Comparisons were made between seizure type, seizure control, various comorbidity profiles, and epilepsy etiologies to determine significance. Patients with generalized seizures, recent epilepsy related hospitalizations, or status epilepticus were more likely to experience uncontrolled seizures. Contrarily, patients with comorbid migraines or etiological history of brain tumors were less likely to be uncontrolled. Findings contribute to the association between seizure severity and poor control. The relationship between migraines and better seizure control may be due to the dual efficacy of ASMs. Additionally, an etiology of brain tumors may indicate advanced treatment, leading to better seizure control. Overall, more research is required to better understand how seizure control is influenced by severity, social demographics, comorbidity, and etiology.
