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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Inducing Post-Traumatic Epilepsy in a Mouse Model of Repetitive Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: February 10, 2020
The impact of prophylactic treatment on post-traumatic epilepsy after severe traumatic brain injury
R Formisano1, C Barba, M G Buzzi
1Rehabilitation Hospital, I.R.C.C.S Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. r.formisano@hsantalucia.it
Aim:
To assess the incidence of late post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) in patients with very severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who either received or did not receive anti-epileptic prophylactic treatment.
Methods:
Two populations were studied: 55 patients retrospectively and 82 subjects prospectively.
Results:
Ten patients (18%) in the first population showed late PTE. Although the incidence was lower in patients who did not receive prophylactic treatment, the difference between the treated and the non-treated group was not statistically significant. Sixty-nine patients in the second group (84%) had prophylactic treatment. Twenty-seven patients (39%) suffered from late PTE during the 2-year follow-up period and 17 of them (63%) showed EEG epileptic abnormalities. No patient who did not receive preventive therapy suffered from late PTE during the observation period.
Conclusions:
Due to the negative cognitive effects of anti-epileptic drugs, the preliminary results are of considerable interest for the rehabilitation of patients with very severe TBI.
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