In a new finding, 53 percent of women with frontal lobe epilepsy, in which the seizures begin in the front of the brain, experience more frequent seizures during pregnancy, suggests a study being presented at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting.
The study also confirmed previous research that found women with focal epilepsy (in which seizures begin in one area of the brain) were more likely to experience more frequent seizures during pregnancy than those with generalized epilepsy (in which seizures affect both sides of the brain). The new study found that those with the frontal lobe type of focal epilepsy were especially likely to experience more frequent seizures while pregnant. Researchers also noticed that although women with focal epilepsy do worse during pregnancy when compared with women with generalized epilepsy, they tend to do better during the postpartum period. However, this finding did not reach statistical significance.