Incidence and Short‐term Prognosis of Status Epilepticus in Adults in Bologna, Italy

Abstract

Summary: Purpose: To determine the incidence and the 30-day case fatality of status epilepticus (SE) in the adult resident population of the city of Bologna, Italy.Methods: Over a 1-year period (March 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000, all patients older than 20 years with SE were included. The case-finding method was based on (a) a prospective surveillance of all public general hospitals in the city by neurologic units, and (b) a review of all discharge codes concerning epilepsy.Results: The crude and standardized annual incidence rate of SE was 13.1 per 100,000 [95% confidence interval (CI), 9.5-17.5] and 10.7 (95% CI, 7.5-13.8). It was higher in the elderly (older than 60 years) than in young adults (26.2 vs. 5.2) and in women than in men (14.9 vs. 11.0). Acute symptomatic SE accounted for 48%, and a cerebrovascular pathology was the most frequently associated etiologic condition (41%). A history of seizures was reported in 39% of patients. The 30-day case fatality was 39% (33% excluding postanoxic patients).Conclusions: This study reports the first data on the epidemiology of SE in Italy. The incidence rate found in the population of Bologna is in the same range as that of the other European countries. The 30-day case fatality is higher than all the other population studies (both European and American), despite the broadly similar clinical features of patients. Indirect evidence suggests that some inaccurate patient management could have negatively influenced the outcome of SE.

Clinical Profile of SE in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Bihar

“…Similar high frequency of acute symptomatic aetiology was reported in the hospital-based series in developing countries [8,9,11,13]. Of the acute symptomatic aetiology, cerebrovascular disease is the predominant cause in developed countries [17,18], whereas in developing countries CNS infections accounted for 28-67% of aetiological spectrum [9,12] and this was much more so in the paediatric age group [8,9]. In the studies from developed countries, the reported frequency of CNS infections as the risk factor varied from 4% to 19% [14].…”

Clinical Profile, Aetiology, and Short Term Outcome of Convulsive Status Epilepticus in Children in Eastern India

“…(10) This difference in the result is probably due to better health status of children of developed countries and higher rates of infection in developing countries. Of the acute symptomatic etiology, cerebrovascular disease is the predominant cause in developed countries (12,13) whereas in developing countries CNS infections accounted for 28-67% of etiological spectrum (14,15) and this was much more so in the children (14) . In this study 71.5% patients aged less than 2 years were presented status epilepticus with fever.…”

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the intensive care setting

“…However, subsequent European studies have shown that CPSE amounts to 16 43% of all SE cases [Vignatelli et al 2003;Knake et al 2001;Coeytaux et al 2000].…”