Posttraumatic seizures: an assessment of the epidemiologic literature.

Confusion about the risk of seizures following head trauma might in part reflect methodologic limitations of reported studies. This epidemiologic review emphasizes four methodologic issues: selection of cases, selection of controls, definition and ascertain of seizures, and definition, of seizures, and definition, classification, and ascertainment of trauma. Although the focus of this review is a set of reports of civilian injuries, the relevance of war studies to civilian injuries is also discussed.