OBJECTIVES

To estimate the incidence of epileptic seizures in patients with glial and metastatic brain tumors and to identify clinical and morphological risk factors for epileptic seizures in patients with glial and metastatic brain tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study included 225 (88.6%) patients with glial brain tumors and 29 patients (11.4%) with metastatic tumors.

RESULTS

Statistically significant differences in the incidence of epileptic seizures depending on age, histological characteristics of the tumor, degree of malignancy, tumor localization, involvement of the cerebral cortex, the presence of the midline shift were obtained.

CONCLUSIONS

Epilepsy and epileptic seizures was found to develop in 51.11% and 24.14% of cases in glial and metastatic brain tumors, respectively. Risk factors for developing epileptic seizures include younger age (up to 57 years), histological characteristics corresponding to diffuse astrocytomas, anaplastic astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, oligoastrocytomas, grade I—III malignancy, lesion of the temporal lobe, involvement of the cerebral cortex. Factors that reduce the risk for attacks include age over 57, histological characteristics corresponding to glioblastomas and metastatic tumors, grade IV malignancy, subcortical localization of the tumor, damage to the occipital lobe, involvement of the commissural pathways, subtentorial localization of the tumor, the absence of lesions of the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain, the involvement of both brain hemispheres, damage to two or more brain lobes, the presence of a midline shift.