[Epileptic seizures in experimental atherosclerosis].

Case histories of 900 patients suffering from cerebrovascular diseases were analyzed. In 25 of them (2.8%) the disease got complicated with epileptic seizures. In 142 albino rats over 2 years of the age, both "sensitive" and "insensitive" to acoustic stimuli experimental atherosclerosis was induced by their long-time (for 3 to 5 months) keeping on Wilgram's atherogenic diet. As a result of the experiment it has been found that the atherogenic diet was conducive to development of hypercholesterolemia and depression of the blood anticoagulation system. As early as a month after the beginning of the diet application substantial shifts in the function of the central nervous system set in. These shifts were characterized by a shortening of the latent period of the reaction and the seizure and an intensification of the latter. The atherogenic diet led to development of audiogenic seizures in rats formerly insensitive to acoustic stimuli. Transfer of the animals to a cholesterol-free ration resulted in normalization of the blood anticoagulation system in 2 to 3 months. Within the same period the basic indices of the audiogenic reaction got normal, and the intensity of the epileptic seizures decreased.