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Review
. 2016 Aug 16;5(8):71.
doi: 10.3390/jcm5080071.

Status Epilepticus: Epidemiology and Public Health Needs

Sebastián Sánchez  1 , Fred Rincon  2
Affiliations
Review

Status Epilepticus: Epidemiology and Public Health Needs

Sebastián Sánchez et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Status epilepticus (SE) is defined as a continuous clinical and/or electrographic seizure activity lasting five minutes or more or recurrent seizure activity without return to baseline. There is a paucity of epidemiological studies of SE, as most research is derived from small population studies. The overall incidence of SE is 9.9 to 41 per 100,000/year, with peaks in children and the elderly and with febrile seizures and strokes as its main etiologies. The etiology is the major determinant of mortality. Governments and the academic community should predominantly focus on the primary prevention of etiologies linked to SE, as these are the most important risk factors for its development. This review describes the incidence, prevalence, etiology, risk factors, outcomes and costs of SE and aims to identify future research and public health needs.

Keywords: costs; epidemiology; epilepsy; etiology; incidence; mortality; population; prevalence; prognosis; public health.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flowchart showing the process for the selection of articles to be reviewed.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age-specific crude incidence and in-hospital mortality with status epilepticus. Taken and adapted from Dham et al. [8].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Etiologies of status epilepticus (SE) for adults and pediatric patients and mortality for adult etiologies. CVA, cerebrovascular accidents Taken from: DeLorenzo et al. [11]. Hem, hemorrhage; Infec, systemic infections with fever; CNS Infec, infections of the central nervous system; Metab, metabolic; LAED, low antiepileptic drug levels; Drug OD, drug overdose; ETOH, alcohol-related; Idiop, idiopathic.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Seizure duration and outcome for private practice community and university hospitals Taken and adapted from: DeLorenzo [39].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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