BACKGROUND: Patients with both primary and metastatic brain tumors have significant seizure burden due to their tumor. The management of tumor-related epilepsy (TRE) and optimizing antiepileptic drug (AED) regimens requires collaboration between neurologists and seizure specialists, which is facilitated by seizure documentation in clinic notes. We aim to describe seizure incidence in patients seen in neuro-oncology clinical practice. Further, in the subset of those patients with TRE, we aim to analyze seizure documentation. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of patients with a primary or metastatic brain tumor seen in a neuro-oncology clinic in October 2019. Patients with TRE were included in the analysis of seizure documentation. These notes were analyzed for inclusion of seizure descriptors, terminology, AED regimens, and changes in management. RESULTS: Of the full cohort of 356 patients, 199 (55.9%) had TRE. Anaplastic astrocytomas had the highest percentage of patients with TRE. The analysis of seizure documentation in patients with TRE revealed that the majority of notes (90.9%) mentioned seizures. Fewer notes (39.6%) provided additional descriptions of the seizures or commented on AED regimens (58.3%). In notes for patients who had seizures within the previous 6 months, seizure descriptors were more likely. CONCLUSIONS: This study defines the TRE burden in a cohort of patients seen in neuro-oncology clinic. Among patients with TRE, our study shows that documentation of many aspects of the characteristics and management of patient seizures can be improved, which would facilitate further analysis of impact on patient care as well as future research.
BACKGROUND: Patients with both primary and metastatic brain tumors have significant seizure burden due to their tumor. The management of tumor-related epilepsy (TRE) and optimizing antiepileptic drug (AED) regimens requires collaboration between neurologists and seizure specialists, which is facilitated by seizure documentation in clinic notes. We aim to describe seizure incidence in patients seen in neuro-oncology clinical practice. Further, in the subset of those patients with TRE, we aim to analyze seizure documentation. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of patients with a primary or metastatic brain tumor seen in a neuro-oncology clinic in October 2019. Patients with TRE were included in the analysis of seizure documentation. These notes were analyzed for inclusion of seizure descriptors, terminology, AED regimens, and changes in management. RESULTS: Of the full cohort of 356 patients, 199 (55.9%) had TRE. Anaplastic astrocytomas had the highest percentage of patients with TRE. The analysis of seizure documentation in patients with TRE revealed that the majority of notes (90.9%) mentioned seizures. Fewer notes (39.6%) provided additional descriptions of the seizures or commented on AED regimens (58.3%). In notes for patients who had seizures within the previous 6 months, seizure descriptors were more likely. CONCLUSIONS: This study defines the TRE burden in a cohort of patients seen in neuro-oncology clinic. Among patients with TRE, our study shows that documentation of many aspects of the characteristics and management of patient seizures can be improved, which would facilitate further analysis of impact on patient care as well as future research.
Authors: Ingrid E Scheffer; Samuel Berkovic; Giuseppe Capovilla; Mary B Connolly; Jacqueline French; Laura Guilhoto; Edouard Hirsch; Satish Jain; Gary W Mathern; Solomon L Moshé; Douglas R Nordli; Emilio Perucca; Torbjörn Tomson; Samuel Wiebe; Yue-Hua Zhang; Sameer M Zuberi Journal: Epilepsia Date: 2017-03-08 Impact factor: 5.864
Authors: Humsa S Venkatesh; Wade Morishita; Anna C Geraghty; Dana Silverbush; Shawn M Gillespie; Marlene Arzt; Lydia T Tam; Cedric Espenel; Anitha Ponnuswami; Lijun Ni; Pamelyn J Woo; Kathryn R Taylor; Amit Agarwal; Aviv Regev; David Brang; Hannes Vogel; Shawn Hervey-Jumper; Dwight E Bergles; Mario L Suvà; Robert C Malenka; Michelle Monje Journal: Nature Date: 2019-09-18 Impact factor: 49.962