Biomaterial Database

Epilepsy after head injury in dogs: a natural model of posttraumatic epilepsy. 2013

Sonja Steinmetz, and Andrea Tipold, and Wolfgang Löscher

Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.

OBJECTIVE In humans, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of acquired (symptomatic) epilepsy, but as yet there is no treatment to prevent the development of epilepsy after TBI. Animal models of posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) are important to characterize epileptogenic mechanisms of TBI and to identify clinically effective antiepileptogenic treatments. The prevalence and phenomenology of naturally occurring canine epilepsy are similar to those in human epilepsy. However, the risk of epilepsy after TBI has not been systemically studied in dogs. We therefore performed a large retrospective study in 1,000 dogs referred to our clinical department over a period of 11.5 years with the aim to determine the incidence of early and late seizures after head trauma in this species. METHODS Two strategies were used: in group I (n = 392), we evaluated whether dogs referred for the treatment of a head trauma (group Ia) or other trauma (group Ib) developed seizures after the trauma, whereas in group II (n = 608) we evaluated whether dogs referred for the treatment of recurrent epileptic seizures had a history of head trauma. Data for this study were obtained from our clinical database, questionnaires sent to the dogs' owners, and owner interviews. RESULTS In group Ia, 6.6% of the dogs developed PTE, which was significantly different from group Ib (1.9%), indicating that head trauma increased the risk of developing epilepsy by a factor of 3.4. The risk of PTE increased with severity of TBI; 14.3% of the dogs with skull fracture developed PTE. In group II, 15.5% of the dogs with epilepsy had a history of head injury, which was significantly higher than the incidence of PTE determined for group Ia. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that head trauma in dogs is associated with a significant risk of developing epilepsy. Therefore, dogs with severe TBI are an interesting natural model of PTE that provides a novel translational platform for studies on human PTE.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008279	Magnetic Resonance Imaging	Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.	Chemical Shift Imaging,MR Tomography,MRI Scans,MRI, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Image,Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional,Magnetization Transfer Contrast Imaging,NMR Imaging,NMR Tomography,Tomography, NMR,Tomography, Proton Spin,fMRI,Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,Imaging, Chemical Shift,Proton Spin Tomography,Spin Echo Imaging,Steady-State Free Precession MRI,Tomography, MR,Zeugmatography,Chemical Shift Imagings,Echo Imaging, Spin,Echo Imagings, Spin,Functional MRI,Functional MRIs,Image, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, Magnetic Resonance,Imaging, NMR,Imaging, Spin Echo,Imagings, Chemical Shift,Imagings, Spin Echo,MRI Scan,MRIs, Functional,Magnetic Resonance Images,Resonance Image, Magnetic,Scan, MRI,Scans, MRI,Shift Imaging, Chemical,Shift Imagings, Chemical,Spin Echo Imagings,Steady State Free Precession MRI
D008297	Male		Males
D012008	Recurrence	The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission.	Recrudescence,Relapse,Recrudescences,Recurrences,Relapses
D002369	Castration	Surgical removal or artificial destruction of gonads.	Gonadectomy,Castrations,Gonadectomies
D003625	Data Collection	Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.	Data Collection Methods,Dual Data Collection,Collection Method, Data,Collection Methods, Data,Collection, Data,Collection, Dual Data,Data Collection Method,Method, Data Collection,Methods, Data Collection
D004195	Disease Models, Animal	Naturally-occurring or experimentally-induced animal diseases with pathological processes analogous to human diseases.	Animal Disease Model,Animal Disease Models,Disease Model, Animal
D004283	Dog Diseases	Diseases of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). This term does not include diseases of wild dogs, WOLVES; FOXES; and other Canidae for which the heading CARNIVORA is used.	Canine Diseases,Canine Disease,Disease, Canine,Disease, Dog,Diseases, Canine,Diseases, Dog,Dog Disease
D004285	Dogs	The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, comprising about 400 breeds, of the carnivore family CANIDAE. They are worldwide in distribution and live in association with people. (Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, p1065)	Canis familiaris,Dog
D004827	Epilepsy	A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p313)	Aura,Awakening Epilepsy,Seizure Disorder,Epilepsy, Cryptogenic,Auras,Cryptogenic Epilepsies,Cryptogenic Epilepsy,Epilepsies,Epilepsies, Cryptogenic,Epilepsy, Awakening,Seizure Disorders
D004834	Epilepsy, Post-Traumatic	Recurrent seizures causally related to CRANIOCEREBRAL TRAUMA. Seizure onset may be immediate but is typically delayed for several days after the injury and may not occur for up to two years. The majority of seizures have a focal onset that correlates clinically with the site of brain injury. Cerebral cortex injuries caused by a penetrating foreign object (CRANIOCEREBRAL TRAUMA, PENETRATING) are more likely than closed head injuries (HEAD INJURIES, CLOSED) to be associated with epilepsy. Concussive convulsions are nonepileptic phenomena that occur immediately after head injury and are characterized by tonic and clonic movements. (From Rev Neurol 1998 Feb;26(150):256-261; Sports Med 1998 Feb;25(2):131-6)	Concussive Convulsion,Epilepsy, Traumatic,Impact Seizure,Seizure Disorder, Post-Traumatic,Early Post-Traumatic Seizures,Late Post-Traumatic Seizures,Post-Traumatic Seizure Disorder,Concussive Convulsions,Convulsion, Concussive,Convulsions, Concussive,Disorder, Post-Traumatic Seizure,Disorders, Post-Traumatic Seizure,Early Post Traumatic Seizures,Early Post-Traumatic Seizure,Epilepsies, Post-Traumatic,Epilepsies, Traumatic,Epilepsy, Post Traumatic,Impact Seizures,Late Post Traumatic Seizures,Late Post-Traumatic Seizure,Post Traumatic Seizure Disorder,Post-Traumatic Epilepsies,Post-Traumatic Epilepsy,Post-Traumatic Seizure Disorders,Post-Traumatic Seizure, Early,Post-Traumatic Seizure, Late,Post-Traumatic Seizures, Early,Post-Traumatic Seizures, Late,Seizure Disorder, Post Traumatic,Seizure Disorders, Post-Traumatic,Seizure, Early Post-Traumatic,Seizure, Late Post-Traumatic,Seizures, Early Post-Traumatic,Seizures, Late Post-Traumatic,Traumatic Epilepsies,Traumatic Epilepsy