Reperfusion seizures: a manifestation of cerebral reperfusion injury after administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke.

Reperfusion injury has been well described in medical literature; cerebral reperfusion injury is commonly seen in association with vascular surgical procedures such as carotid endarterectomies and stent placement procedures. Cerebral reperfusion injury can manifest as blood-brain barrier breakdown, cortical irritability, and epileptic seizures. Seizures induced by cerebral reperfusion have not been documented or reported after thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke. We report a patient who received intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator within 3 hours of stroke symptom onset and developed the new-onset symptom of continuous, primary motor seizure activity within 20 minutes of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator administration. These epileptic seizures originated in the same area as the acute brain ischemia and occurred during the anticipated period of cerebral reperfusion. In this article we describe a case report and then discuss the pathophysiology and mechanisms that may underlie reperfusion epileptic seizures as a manifestation of cerebral reperfusion injury.