Epilepsy Is Not a Contraindication for Autologous Blood Donation

Patients with epilepsy are usually excluded from autologous blood donation due to the assumption that blood donation may provoke a convulsive attack. In this study we present the data of 26 unselected patients (age between 10 and 61 years) with epilepsy who donated autologous blood. A total of 50 blood donations were done (1–3 donations per patient). The patients were carefully observed during and following the procedure of blood donation. Autologous blood donation did not lead to epileptic attacks in any case.