Veterans can have seizures decades after a head injury

Veterans can have seizures decades after a head injury, study finds
It's unclear what can trigger the post-traumatic epilepsy, which can hit up to 35 years after a penetrating head wound. The long-term study looks at Vietnam veterans.

By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times

July 20, 2010


Soldiers who suffered brain injuries can develop seizures decades — as long as 35 years — after the initial injury, researchers have found.

A study published Tuesday in the journal Neurology found that among a group of 199 Vietnam veterans, about 13% developed post-traumatic epilepsy more than 14 years after they had suffered a penetrating head wound, such as a gunshot injury or shrapnel that entered brain tissue. Penetrating head injuries are generally linked with a higher risk for epilepsy than other types of head injuries, such as concussions.

Among the veterans, who are part of a long-term investigation called the Vietnam Head Injury Study, the overall rate of post-traumatic epilepsy was about 44%, consistent with similar military groups.

It is unclear what's responsible for the triggering of seizures so many years after a penetrating head injury, said study coauthor Jordan Grafman, chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md.
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Veterans can have seizures decades after a head injury