The Clinical Outcomes in Children with Status Epilepticus: a Single Centered, Comparative Study during the Period between 1990s and 2000s

Jung, Sung Su; Kim, Sun Jun

Abstract

PURPOSE
Status epilepticus(SE) is one of the most common neurologic emergencies in children, which might result in significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of etiology and prognosis, clinical outcomes in children with status epilepticus during the period between the 1990s and 2000s at a single institution.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the records of two groups (group A and B) of children with SE at the Department of Pediatrics of our institution. Group A consisted of 98 children aged between 2 months and 15 years and admitted from January, 1992 to December, 1998. Group B consisted of 79 children at the same age and admitted from November, 2008 to July, 2011. We compared age distribution, etiology, duration, abnormality of EEG and Brain CT/MRI, and neurologic complications between the two groups.
RESULTS
Compared with group A, the mortality rate of SE in group B improved from 7.1% to 1.3%. Neurological complication rates also improved from 21.4% (group A) to 18.3% (group B). Duration of SE decreased from 71.4+/-82.6 minutes (group A) to 42.0+/-53.8 minutes (group B). Etiologies of SE between two periods were not significantly different, but the duration of SE decreased, and mortality and neurologic outcomes improved (P<0.001). The duration of SE was significantly correlated with neurologic complications (R2=0.214, P<0.001).
CONCLUSION
This study showed decreased mortality and neurologic complication rates in SE over the last decade. The Decrease of mortality and neurologic complication rates may be due to the decreased duration of SE and more immediate visit of patients to the hospital than in the past.