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Previous Volume 338:970-976 April 2, 1998 Number 14 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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A patient in status epilepticus has continuous or rapidly repeating seizures. Although the danger of this pattern of seizure activity has been recognized since antiquity, our understanding of the pathophysiology of status epilepticus is incomplete. The frequency of cases in the United States is approximately 102,000 to 152,000 per year, and roughly 55,000 deaths are associated with status epilepticus annually.¹ Twelve to 30 percent of adult patients with a new diagnosis of epilepsy first present in status epilepticus.^2,3 This review focuses on generalized status epilepticus, which is the most common form of the disorder.^1,4 This is a life-threatening condition that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Definitions

Clinical Features of Generalized Status Epilepticus

Outcomes and Causes of Status Epilepticus

Pathophysiology

Management

Principles of Drug Treatment

Pharmacologic Therapy

Benzodiazepines

Phenytoin and Fosphenytoin

Phenobarbital

Other Therapies

Treatment of Refractory Status Epilepticus

Out-of-Hospital Treatment

Source Information

From the Departments of Neurology (D.H.L., B.K.A.) and Anatomy (D.H.L.), School of Medicine, and the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy (B.K.A.), University of California, San Francisco.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Lowenstein at the Department of Neurology, Box 0114, UCSF School of Medicine, 505 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143-0114.

References

Related Letters:

Status Epilepticus
Groba C. B., Walls R. M., Sagarin M. J., Nelson L. S., Rella J., Hoffman R. S., Traynor B. J., Hardiman O., Lowenstein D. H., Alldredge B. K.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 339:409-410, Aug 6, 1998. Correspondence

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