ABSTRACT
We studied the hormonal changes in 24 epileptic children with primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Their ages ranged between 3 and 16 years with a mean of 9.08 +/- 4.05 years, 13 were males and 11 were females. Electroencephalographic studies showed high voltage slow waves pattern in 17 patients while computed tomography of brain was normal in all cases. As regards the acute changes following an attack, we found significant elevation of both prolactin and ACTH levels after 20 minutes, 1, 2, and 3 hours of seizure compared with baseline level [after 24 hours]. The increase in plasma ACTH level was accompanied with significant elevation in plasma cortisol level after 1, 2 and 3 hours of the seizure onset. Plasma TSH level after 1 and 2 hours were significantly higher than the baseline value. Early postictal significant elevation of growth hormone levels was observed after 20 minutes and 1 hour. Concerning chronic hormonal changes, we found that the baseline levels of prolactin, ACTH and cortisol in epileptic children with generalized tonic-clonic seizures were significantly higher than the levels recorded in healthy children while no significant differences could be detected as regards TSH and growth hormone. We suggest conducting other studies in pediatric age to assess the role of neurotransmitters in producing the variable hormonal changes following the onset of seizures