Nonconvulsive status epilepticus after convulsive status epilepticus: Clinical features, outcomes, and prognostic factors.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate clinical characteristics and outcomes of nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) after convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) and determine risk factors for unfavorable outcomes.

METHODS

We reviewed consecutive patients with NCSE after CSE over eight years in the neurological intensive care unit. Clinical presentations and the Salzburg EEG criteria for NCSE were used to identify patients with NCSE after CSE. Demographics, clinical features, and anti-epileptic treatment responses were collected and analyzed. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to evaluate three-month outcomes. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

Among 145 consecutive patients with convulsive SE, 48 (33.1%) patents eventually evolved into NCSE. Two patients with cerebral anoxia were exclude. At three-month follow-up, 23 patients (50.0%) had mRS ≥ 3, and 16 (34.8%) died. Thirty-two patients (69.6%) were given continuous intravenous anesthetic drugs (CIVADs). Fourteen patients (30.4%) had CIVAD at the rate >50% proposed maximal dose (PMD). There was a single predictor factor found significant after multivariate logistic regression analysis: the recurrence of EEG seizures within two hours of initiation of CIVAD at a dose of greater than half the proposed maximal dose (OR, 9.63; 95%CI, 1.08-86.18; p = 0.043). The use of CIVAD, even with a high dose (>50% PMD), was not independently associated with unfavorable outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The recurrence of EEG seizures within two hours of initiation of CIVAD at a dose of greater than half the proposed maximal dose predicts unfavorable outcomes in NCSE after CSE. The refractoriness of the seizures might be a significantly greater risk for poor outcome in NCSE after CSE than treatment with CIVADs.