doi:10.1155/2012/641323 Clinical Study Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in the Elderly

permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The incidence of epilepsy has bimodal distribution peaking at the extremes of life. Incidence is greater in younger and older age groups (Hauser et al., 1993, Sidenvall et al., 1993, Forsgren et al., 1996, and Olafsson et al., 2005). As the world population ages more elders with epilepsy will be identified. In the high-income countries with longer life expectancy, the number of elders with epilepsy will be even higher. CPSs account for 40 % of all seizure types in the elderly (Hauser et al., 1992); however, the proportion with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is uncertain. 1. Causes The specific causes of TLE in the elderly have not been clearly disclosed. With advancing age underlying coexisting factors are more likely to be identified, and the proportion of people classified as idiopathic is less when compared to the younger age groups. Nonetheless, up to half of elderly patients with epilepsy go without an identified cause. In the under 65-year age group, head trauma, brain tumors, and CNS infections are common associations. Etiol