Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Differences Between Idiopathic and Symptomatic Epilepsy in 240 Dogs
By Pákozdy, Akos et al.·Published in Acta veterinaria Hungarica·2008·Clinic for Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective clinical comparison of idiopathic versus symptomatic epilepsy in 240 dogs with seizures.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 240 dogs experiencing seizures was studied to understand the causes behind their condition. The researchers found that about 48% of the dogs had idiopathic epilepsy (IE), meaning the cause was unknown, while 52% had symptomatic epilepsy (SE), often linked to brain tumors or inflammation. Dogs with SE showed more severe symptoms, like partial seizures and vocalizing during episodes. The study highlighted that younger dogs with seizures starting between one and five years old were more likely to have IE. Treatment options would depend on the specific diagnosis, so it's important for pet owners to work closely with their veterinarian.
People also search for: dog seizures causes · idiopathic epilepsy in dogs · symptomatic epilepsy treatment · why is my dog having seizures · dog seizure symptoms
Abstract
In the present study, 240 cases of dogs with seizures were analysed retrospectively. The aim was to examine the underlying aetiology and to compare primary or idiopathic epilepsy (IE) with symptomatic epilepsy (SE) concerning signalment, history, ictal pattern, clinical and neurological findings. The diagnosis of symptomatic epilepsy was based on confirmed pathological changes in haematology, serum biochemistry, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and morphological changes of the brain by CT/MRI or histopathological examination. Seizure aetiologies were classified as idiopathic epilepsy (IE, n = 115) and symptomatic epilepsy (SE, n = 125). Symptomatic epilepsy was mainly caused by intracranial neoplasia (39) and encephalitis (23). The following variables showed significant difference between the IE and SE group: age, body weight, presence of partial seizures, cluster seizures, status epilepticus, ictal vocalisation and neurological deficits. In 48% of the cases, seizures were found to be due to IE, while 16% were due to intracranial neoplasia and 10% to encephalitis. Status epilepticus, cluster seizures, partial seizures, vocalisation during seizure and impaired neurological status were more readily seen with symptomatic epilepsy. If the first seizure occurred between one and five years of age or the seizures occurred during resting condition, the diagnosis was more likely IE than SE.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19149102/