Idiopatisk epilepsi : en fallstudie

Sammanfattning: Epilepsy is a common neurological condition in dogs, being a common reason for death in the statistics from the insurance company Agria in Sweden. Among the different types of epilepsy, idiopathic epilepsy (IE) is the most common and is characterized by the fact that a veterinary examination does not reveal a cause for the seizures. This study has been conducted through studies of medical records and interviews with dog owners. From a total number of 103 dogs that were neurologically examined for seizures, 42 dogs met the inclusion criteria, being classified as having idiopathic epilepsy. When the study was performed, 28 dogs had died, while 14 were still alive. The dogs were of 26 different breeds, of predominantly large breeds. The first seizure occurred at a mean age of 4 years, with a range from 2 months to 12 years of age. The average time between onset of seizures and death was 2,5 years for those that had died prior to the time of this study. In 64% of the total of 28 cases, death was directly related to epilepsy. The mean survival time as regarding all subjects was 4 years from the time of the initial seizure. The mean total lifespan, birth to death/contact, was 8 years, with a range from 1 to 18 years.