Seizures May Indicate Onset of Frontotemporal Dementia

Adults with frontotemporal dementia are at increased risk of seizures and myoclonus, according to a poster presented at the recent American Academy of Neurology meeting in Washington, DC.

In recent years, research has suggested that patients with neurodegenerative conditions have more seizures early in the progression of disease. To determine seizure incidence in patients with frontotemporal dementia in particular, Alexander Beagle and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, reviewed records of 239 people meeting criteria for the condition.

They found that 2.2% of patients had seizures and 6.5% had myoclonus. When they compared rates of first unprovoked seizures in the study population with information from epidemiological studies involving age-matched populations, they found that both seizure incidence and myoclonus incidence were higher in patients with frontotemporal dementia than in the general population.

Regarding the timing of seizures, the study’s authors reported that first unprovoked seizures occurred 5.3 to 0.1 years before patients were diagnosed with dementia. Myoclonus occurred 1.2 years before to 3.3 years after dementia diagnosis.

“Seizures in older adults can herald the onset of dementia as they tend to occur before and near to diagnosis,” researchers wrote. “Patient quality of life can be improved with proper recognition and treatment.”—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference:

Beagle A, Darwish S, Karageorgiou E, Vossel K. Seizures and myoclonus in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia. Neurology. 2015;84:SupplementP1.218.