Late-onset epilepsy in cerebral amyloid angiopathy patients: a case-control study

Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is characterized by amyloid deposition in the walls of leptomeningeal and cortical arteries, arterioles of the central nervous system. To date, epileptic seizures at CAA onset have rarely been reported and its prevalence is unknown. In reason of the high frequency of CAA in the elderly population and of the expected epileptogenic role of cortical hemorrhagic lesions, it may be hypothesized that CAA can explain a proportion of late-onset epilepsies with unknown etiology. This study aims to assess the possible correlation between CAA and late onset (>55 years) epilepsy.