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A Three-Year Follow-Up

Laverne C. Johnson, PhD; William L. DeBolt, MD; Michael T. Long, MD; John J. Ross, MD; Jon F. Sassin, MD; Ransom J. Arthur, MD; Richard D. Walter, MD

Arch Neurol. 1972;27(3):193-197.

Abstract
Seventy-seven navy enlisted men with a mean age of 23.2 years (range, 17 of 48) were admitted to the hospital after their first seizure and given a provisional diagnosis of convulsive disorder. The subjects were followed-up for three years to see if reliable predictors of subsequent seizures and diagnosis could be obtained at the first examination. If not readmitted because of a second seizure, each patient was recalled at the end of his first and third year in the study for follow-up examinations.

Following a second seizure and readmission to the hospital, 39% were diagnosed as having a convulsive disorder, 18% a psychiatric disorder, and 5% a neurological illness. Thirty-six percent never had a second seizure. Of those experiencing a second seizure 77% were readmitted during the first year. Three variables were used as predictors of second seizures and final diagnoses: type of seizure (major motor); electroencephalographic classification (spikes with or without slow waves); and presence of postictal confusion and disorientation.

Author Affiliations
San Diego; Los Angeles

From the Navy Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit, San Diego, Calif (Drs. Johnson, DeBolt, Long, Ross, Sassin, and Arthur), and the Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles (Dr. Walter). Drs. DeBolt and Long are now in private practice in San Diego; Dr. Ross is now with the University of Florida, Gainesville; and Dr. Sassin is now with Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, New York.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication May 25, 1972.

The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private ones of the writers and are not to be construed official or as reflecting the views of the Navy Department.

Read in part before the American Electroencephalographic Society, Minneapolis, September 1971.

Reprint requests to Navy Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit, San Diego, Calif 92152 (Dr. Johnson).

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