Background: This study aims to identify the prevalence of and risk factors for seizure development after supratentorial brain tumor resection in pediatric patients. This could be used to guide the postoperative management and usage of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs).
Methods: Retrospective study was conducted for patients between 0 and 21 years with supratentorial tumor resection between 2005 and 2015 at a single institution.
Results: Two hundred patients (114 males/86 females) were identified. Median age at resection (±SD) was 9.025 ± 5.720 years and mean follow-up was 4 ± 2 years. Resection was gross total in 82 patients (41%) and partial in 118 patients (59%); 66 patients (33%) experienced preoperative seizures, and 67 patients (34%) experienced postoperative seizures; 18 patients (27%) had early seizures, and 49 patients (73%) had late seizures. Univariate analysis identified risk factors for postoperative seizures as: preoperative seizures (P < 0.001), age less than 2 years (P = 0.003), temporal location (P < 0.001), thalamic location (P = 0.017), preoperative hyponatremia (P = 0.017), World Health Organization grade (P = 0.008), and pathology (P = 0.005). Multivariate regression identified 5 robust risk factors: temporal location (odds ratio [OR] 4.7, 95% CI: 1.7-13.3, P = 0.003), age <2 years (OR 3.9, 95% CI: 1.0-15.4; P = 0.049), preoperative hydrocephalus (OR 3.8, 95% CI: 1.5-9.4; P = 0.005), preoperative seizure (OR 2.8, 95% CI: 1.2-6.5; P = 0.016) and parietal location (OR 0.25, 95% CI: 0.06-0.99; P = 0.049). Extent of resection did not correlate with seizure development (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: This study reveals 5 risk factors for postoperative seizures after resection of supratentorial tumors. These factors should be considered in postoperative management of these patients.