Citation

Finelli PF, Cardi JK. Neurology 1989; 39(6): 858-860.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Brown University, Providence, RI.

Comment In:

Neurology 1990;40(4):725-6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2725885

Abstract

Of 2,800 patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of seizure, 1.1% (30/2,800) sustained fracture. Of these, 0.5% (15/2,800) had fracture due to direct trauma, 0.3% (7/2,800) had fracture as a consequence of seizure alone, and in 0.3% (8/2,800) the etiology was not determined. In the trauma group, 11 of 17 fractures involved the skull, nasal bones, and clavicle, while in the nontrauma group, the proximal humerus was the site in 6 of 9 fractures. These findings indicate that fracture is an uncommon complication of seizure and is extremely rare in the absence of trauma where, however, the fracture may be pathognomonic (bilateral posterior dislocation or fracture-dislocation of the shoulder) or highly suggestive (unilateral posterior dislocation, fracture-dislocation of the shoulder) of seizure.

Language: en