Hemogram parameters in epilepsy may be indicators of chronic inflammation and hypoxemia

Objective: To evaluate the hemogram parameters of patients with epilepsy during and after periods of seizure, and to compare these parameters with those in healthy subjects. Materials and method: Hemogram parameters of patients with epilepsy were analyzed retrospectively. Hemogram parameters were observed to display inflammatory status during seizure and seizure-free periods. Fifty-two patients with epilepsy and 48 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Results: White blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, and lymphocyte levels were significantly higher during seizures compared with seizure-free periods in patients with epilepsy. In addition, WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte values of patients with epilepsy during seizure-free periods were significantly lower than those of healthy subjects. Independent of seizure status, patients with epilepsy had significantly increased mean corpuscular volume, mean platelet volume (MPV), and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) values compared with the controls. Discussion: The increased MPV detected in patients with epilepsy in the present study was considered to be important because it reflects chronic inflammation. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was not significantly different in patients with epilepsy compared with healthy individuals. Elevated RDW in patients with epilepsy is valuable because it is considered as the long-term memory of hypoxemia in this population.