Abstract
Background Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain neoplasia in adults.
Seizure is a common manifestation in GBM. Up to 25 to 60% of patients with GBM have
seizures. We aim to summarize all the relevant clinical, surgical, radiologic, and
molecular features of a cohort of patients suffering from GBM-related epilepsy and
measure the outcome, to understand the possible existence of a clinical/phenotypical
specificity of this subgroup of patients.
Methods We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 177 patients affected by isocitrate dehydrogenase
wild-type (IDH-WT) GBM; 49 patients presented seizure at onset (SaO) and 128 were
seizure free (SF). We investigated the relationship between seizures and other prognostic
factors of GBMs.
Results A statistically significant association between the location of the lesions in the
parietal lobe and seizures was observed. The left side was more commonly affected.
Interestingly, there was a statistical relationship between tumors involving the subventricular
zone (SVZ) and SaO patients. The tumors were also smaller on average at diagnosis,
and generalized SaOs were associated with longer overall survival.
Conclusions The typical patient with IDH-WT GBM with SaO is a young (<55 year) male without a
history of headache. The lesion is typically small to medium in size and located in
the temporoparietal dominant lobe, with a high tendency to involve the SVZ.
Keywords
seizure - glioblastoma - EGFR - p53 - survival - brain tumor - epilepsy
