Prevalence of seizures in thalamic brain tumour, a single centre experience and a meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Thalamus was shown to play an indirect (secondary) role in epileptogenesis. However, the question on thalamus being a primary seizure generator remained unanswered. This study aimed to determine the primary role of the thalamus in epileptogenesis by studying the prevalence of seizures in thalamic tumours in our centre and via a meta-analysis. Methods: This study included a cross-sectional study and a meta-analysis. Medical records of patients diagnosed with gliomas between January 2008 and December 2020 were reviewed. In the meta-analysis, 22 studies relevant to the subject matter were identified from several bibliographic databases up to July 31, 2022. Results: Out of the 239 glioma patients, fourteen had thalamic tumours of which four presented with preoperative seizures (28.6%). In the meta-analysis, the overall pooled prevalence of preoperative seizures in patients with thalamic tumours was 17% (95% CI, 14–21%; range, 5.3%-35.0%). The prevalence of seizures in those without cortical involvement was 14.3% in our cohort, and the pooled seizure prevalence in this group of patients was 17% (95% CI, 12–23%; range, 7.1–22.4%) in the meta-analysis regardless of the tumour types. Conclusion: In thalamic tumors, even without cortical involvement, seizures occurrence is not uncommon (17%), suggesting that thalamus could have a primary role in epileptogenesis.

Keywords

• Thalamus
• Glioma
• Seizure
• Prevalence
• Meta-analysis