Character of epileptic seizures and electroencephalographic changes in patients with epilepsy and comorbid diseases

Comorbidity refers to the coexistence of two or more diseases in the same person, which can affect each body system. Epilepsy and the comorbid disorders can occur and exist without causality or interconnection between them. The presence of comorbid diseases relates to a higher risk of aggravating the condition of the patient, an increase in the electroencephalography abnormalities, and a presence of interdependence between the separate diseases, as well as between their treatment methods. The object of the current study is to analyse the interdependence between the different comorbidities, the types of epileptic seizures, and the characteristics of the electroencephalography abnormalities in patients with epilepsy. Our research is clinical and epidemiological, retrospective, and covers patients with epilepsy who were treated in the Clinic for Paroxysmal Diseases at the Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment in Neurology and Psychiatry “St. Naum”, Sofia, for a period of ten years (2003–2012). Out of all 1624 included patients, 849 are female and 775 are male. The age range of the examined patients is between 18 and 93 years, having an averageage for women 45.9 years (SD±16.2) and 45.4 years (SD±16.9) for men. The data used are part of clinic’s documentation: anamneses on the type of epileptic seizures, electroencephalography, laboratory studies, neuroimaging analysis, and statistical methods. Out of all examined patients with epilepsy and a specific comorbid disease, 916 (56.4%) patients have diffuse changes in the background activity, 32 (2%) patients have generalized paroxysmal activity, 157 (9.6%) patients have disorganized background activity with generalized paroxysmal activity, 591 (32%) of the patients have focal activity. There is a dependency between the electroencephalography changes of some commonly encountered somatic and neurological diseases. The presence of comorbid diseases relates to a higher risk for aggravating the condition of the patient, increasing the electroencephalography findings, a presence of interdependence between the separate diseases, as well as between their treatment.