Background: Seizure recurrence after a fit has implications for both individuals and healthcare providers guiding neurologic prognosis, treatment, and driving and work restrictions. A systematic review of long-term seizure recurrence after eclampsia will help to quantify recurrence risk in this setting.
Objective: To evaluate the long-term recurrence of seizures after eclampsia.
Search strategy: After PROSPERO registration, Medline (Ovid), Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched by using the terms (eclampsia OR eclamp* OR eclamptic seizure* OR eclamptic fit*) AND (recur* OR recurrent fit* OR recurrent seizure*) for studies published up until December 2019.
Selection criteria: Studies describing long-term seizure recurrence after a diagnosis of eclampsia were included.
Data collection and analysis: Data were extracted from studies independently by two authors. Pooled prevalence was calculated and weighted based on sample size with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
Main results: Initially, 1754 unique studies were identified and 4 were included in the final analysis. The studies involved 1896 women, of whom 7 (0.37%) were affected by a further seizure. The weighted pooled prevalence of seizure recurrence was 0.18% (95% CI, 0.03-1.02).
Conclusion: The absolute rate of long-term seizure recurrence after eclampsia is extremely low and within safe limits for driving.
Keywords: Eclampsia; Recurrence risk; Seizures.
© 2020 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.