Modern Treatment of Status Epilepticus in Adults

Abstract

Status epilepticus is a serious epileptic condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It can be divided into four stages: developing (seizures leading up to status epilepticus), established (>5 minutes convulsive status epilepticus, nonconvulsive/focal status epilepticus >10 min), refractory (failure of two adequately dosed antiseizure medications in different drug classes), and super-refractory (persisting despite >24 hours of anesthesia). All seizure types can develop to status epilepticus. Generalized convulsive status epilepticus has the largest potential for brain damage. The drug treatment algorithms for status epilepticus Note to the Reader: This chapter is part of the book Epilepsy (ISBN: 978-0-6453320-4-9), scheduled for publication in March 2022. The book is being published by Exon Publications,