Skip Navigation


Brain Advance Access originally published online on September 15, 2004
Brain 2004 127(11):2427-2432; doi:10.1093/brain/awh267
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
127/11/2427    most recent
awh267v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (9)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gaitatzis, A.
Right arrow Articles by Sander, J. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gaitatzis, A.
Right arrow Articles by Sander, J. W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Brain Vol. 127 No. 11 © Guarantors of Brain 2003; all rights reserved

Life expectancy in people with newly diagnosed epilepsy

Athanasios Gaitatzis1,2, Anthony L. Johnson3, David W. Chadwick4, Simon D. Shorvon1 and Josemir W. Sander1,2

1 Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 2 Neuroepidemiology Unit, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust, London, 3 MRC Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, University Forvie Site, Cambridge and 4 University Department of Neuroscience, Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK

Correspondence to: Professor J. W. Sander, Institute of Neurology (Box 29), Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK E-mail: lsander{at}ion.ucl.ac.uk

Epilepsy carries a risk of premature mortality, but little is known about life expectancy in people with the condition. The UK National General Practice Study of Epilepsy is a prospective, population-based study of people with newly diagnosed epilepsy. A cohort of 564 patients with definite epilepsy has been followed for nearly 15 years and there have been 177 deaths. These data have been used to estimate life expectancy of people in this cohort by employing a parametric survival model based on the Weibull distribution. Life expectancy in people with epilepsy was estimated as a function of age at, and time from, diagnosis according to two broad aetiological groups. These estimates were then compared with life expectancy in people of the same age and sex in the general population. Reduction in life expectancy can be up to 2 years for people with a diagnosis of idiopathic/cryptogenic epilepsy, and the reduction can be up to 10 years in people with symptomatic epilepsy. Reductions in life expectancy are highest at the time of diagnosis and diminish with time. Our model provides broad estimates, but it appears that the higher mortality rates in people with newly diagnosed epilepsy translate into decreased life expectancy.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 QJMHome page
C.T. Fang, Y.Y. Chang, H.M. Hsu, S.J. Twu, K.T. Chen, C.C. Lin, L.Y.L. Huang, M.Y. Chen, J.S. Hwang, J.D. Wang, et al.
Life expectancy of patients with newly-diagnosed HIV infection in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy
QJM, February 1, 2007; 100(2): 97 - 105.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurol. Neurosurg. PsychiatryHome page
B Morton, A Richardson, and S Duncan
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP): don't ask, don't tell?
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, February 1, 2006; 77(2): 199 - 202.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JWatch NeurologyHome page
Estimated Years of Life Lost with Symptomatic vs. Idiopathic Epilepsy
Journal Watch Neurology, January 27, 2005; 2005(127): 6 - 6.
[Full Text]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.