Post-traumatic Epilepsy: Epidemiology, Definition and Terminology

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major risk factor for the development of epilepsy, accounting for around 5% of all epilepsy cases. The risk is greatest within the first year of injury but persists for many years afterwards. Severity of injury is the biggest predictor of future risk of epilepsy, with evidence of intracerebral and sub-dural haemorrhage being important clinical indicators. Individual characteristics including medical co-morbidities and genetic predisposition also influence this risk.