Seizures and head injury in an urban community

Among 811 patients hospitalized for head injury (HI) in the Bronx, 14 (1.7%) had HI caused by a seizure, 47 (5.8%) had a history of seizures of some type unrelated to the index HI episode, and 40 (4.9%) had a history of single or recurrent unprovoked seizures. The 40 patients who had unprovoked seizures and HI not caused by a seizure tended to have more severe HI and were more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, but were otherwise similar to HI patients without a history of epilepsy. The number of cases observed is increased threefold over that expected if rates were similar to those in the predominantly white middle-class community of Rochester, MN. We estimate the prevalence of epilepsy in the Bronx to be between 2.4 and 4.7%.