[Diagnostic value of epileptic seizures in cerebral gliomas]

On the basis of 346 glioma patients operated on in the years 1969-1983, the frequency of epileptic seizures and their importance for the diagnosis as well as the causes of the delay in clearing up the clinical picture were ascertained. Of the 226 patients with an astrocytoma, 51.5 per cent had one or several epileptic fits in the pre-operative period. For the 99 glioblastoma patients, the seizure rate was 33.7 per cent and for the 21 patients with an oligodendroglioma it was 69 per cent. Although in about 80 per cent of the cases epileptic fits were the first symptom of the disease, this important clinical sign led in only 30 per cent to a causal treatment. In another 20 per cent of the courses, the final clarification was initiated by an increase in the frequency of the fits or a change of the kind of the fit. In the remaining 50 per cent of the glioma patients it was only after the additional occurrence of neurological disturbance that the diagnosis could be verified and surgical treatment carried out.