INH induced status epilepticus: response to pyridoxine

Abstract

Isoniazid is an effective and widely used drug in tuberculosis treatment. The administration of toxic amounts of INH causes recurrent seizures, profound metabolic acidosis, coma and even death but therapeutic dose of isoniazid is a very rare cause of seizures. We present a case of 44-year-old HIV positive African-American female who was recently started on a preventive dose of INH after being found purified protein derivative (PPD) positive. She developed status-epilepticus that did not respond to most of the antiepileptics. As soon as she received intravenous pyridoxine, the seizures terminated abruptly.