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Recovery of consciousness following acute symptomatic seizures due to central nervous system infections in children
Author(s) -
KING ELEANOR J,
FERRIE COLIN D,
LIVINGSTON JOHN H,
TAYLOR JOHN C
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04227.x
Subject(s) - central nervous system , medicine , consciousness , consciousness disorders , epilepsy , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , psychology , neuroscience , psychiatry
Aim The aim of this study was to assess whether acute symptomatic epileptic seizures associated with central nervous system infections (AS inf ) have a different ictal and postictal course to seizures of other aetiologies. Method A case note analysis of 81 children (47 males; 34 females; age range 1mo–15y 6mo; median age 12mo) with central nervous system infections was undertaken. Seizure type, duration, aetiology, and timing were recorded. Recovery time to full consciousness in those not intubated was determined. Intubation rates and recovery times were compared with those from previous studies. Results Of the 81 children, 40 (49.4%) had one or more AS inf . The different aetiologies were bacterial meningitis, aseptic meningitis, abscess/empyema, encephalitis, and postoperative infection. Twenty‐two had status epilepticus. The intubation rate in children with AS inf was higher than that in children with seizures of other aetiologies (21/40 [52.5%] vs 4/124 [3.23%]; p < 0.0001). Median postictal recovery time was 4.33 hours (0–207h). Children with AS inf took 4.3 ( p <0.01), 3.0 ( p =0.004), and 8.8 ( p <0.001) times longer to recover than children who had seizures from all causes, remote symptomatic seizures, and febrile seizures respectively. Interpretation AS inf in children are often longer, more likely to be associated with status epilepticus, more likely to necessitate intubation, and take longer to recover from than seizures of other aetiologies. This may help in the early diagnosis of central nervous system infection in children presenting with seizures.