Background: Epilepsy seems to be an important comorbidity in patients with early onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). Currently, seizures are still underestimated in this population. However, seizures may interact with AD evolution with possible acceleration of cognitive decline.
Objective: To better define the epileptic disorders observed in patients with EOAD.
Methods: All patients diagnosed as EOAD in our hospital between 2013 and 2019 with positive CSF biomarkers for AD were selected. The usual follow-up was extended with a 3-h EEG and a consultation with an epilepsy expert. Information on epilepsy and AD were collected and analyzed.
Results: Among the 25 included patients, 10 (40%) were classified as epileptic. Seizure types were tonic-clonic (25%), typical temporal seizures (25%), myoclonus (25%), focal extra-temporal seizures (8%), and other seizure types (17%). AD-E patients had a significant lower MMSE (15.3±8.4 AD-E versus 22.1±5.1 AD-NE, p = 0.036) and a lower autonomy (IADL 4.1±2.7 AD-E versus 6.4±1.9 AD-NE, p = 0.046) at AD diagnosis with comparable ages between AD-E and AD-NE. Epileptic patients seemed to present a faster cognitive decline ([ΔMMSE per year 1.7±1.3 AD-E versus 0.9±1.4 AD-NE; p = 0.09). All patients with severe cognitive impairment (MMSE ≤ 10) had an epileptic comorbidity.
Conclusion: Epilepsy is a frequent comorbidity in EOAD patients, with a percentage of 40%in our study. This comorbidity may be associated with a severe form of EOAD. The role of epilepsy in the acceleration of cognitive decline and the positive impact of antiepileptic drugs on cognition need further research.
Keywords: Cognitive decline; early onset Alzheimer’s disease; epilepsy; seizures.