Does epilepsy always indicate worse outcomes? A longitudinal follow-up analysis of 485 glioma patients

Abstract Background Epilepsy is one of the most common glioma complications, and the two may be connected in more ways than we understand. We aimed to investigate the clinical features of glioma-associated epilepsy and explore the risk factors associated with it. Methods We collected clinical information from 485 glioma patients in the Nanjing Brain Hospital and conducted 4 periodic follow-up visits. Based on the collected data, we analyzed the clinical characteristics of glioma patients with or without epilepsy and their relationship with survival. Results Among glioma patients, younger people were more likely to have epilepsy. However, epilepsy incidence was independent of gender. Patients with grade II gliomas were most likely to develop epilepsy, while those with grade IV gliomas were least likely. There was no difference in Karnofsky Performance Status scores between patients with glioma-associated epilepsy and those without epilepsy. Additionally, epilepsy was independently associated with longer survival in the World Health Organization grade IV glioma patients. For grades II, III, and IV tumors, the 1-year survival rate of the epilepsy group was higher than that of the non-epilepsy group. Conclusions Epilepsy did not lead to worse admission performance and correlated with a better prognosis for patients with grade IV glioma.