Association of intracerebral bone fragments and epilepsy in missile head injuries

Twenty young adults sustained missile injuries in the Lebanese war. They underwent repeated clinical electroencephalographical (EEG), computerised tomography scanning (CT-scan) and polysomnographic (PSG) examinations during a 6-year period. All the patients were young adult males with an average age of 23, previously healthy according to their army profiles. Three of 20 developed between 3 to 14 months following injury generalised tonic-clonic convulsions. The unique common epileptogenic feature characterising the 3 epileptics was the presence of bone fragments in lacerated brain tissue. The possible causal relationship between the presence of the bone fragments and epileptogenesis is discussed.