Status Epilepticus: It's Not What We've Thought or Taught

Abstract

Status epilepticus has been defined as `seizures so severe as to constitute a fixed and lasting condition." Prevention of status epilepticus is one of the reasons given for administering anticonvulsant drugs to children. Because status epilepticus is widely believed to be capable of producing neurologic deficit, seizures are believed to require emergency treatment to prevent status epilepticus that might cause brain damage. However, when was the last time you saw a child with status epilepticus who died or had residual encephalopathy? Certainly, there was the child who nearly drowned; the drowning caused both damage to the brain and status epilepticus. I would attribute the residual brain damage to the drowning, not to the status epilepticus.