Therapeutic plasma exchange for malignant refractory status epilepticus: a case report

Refractory status epilepticus is a prolongation of status epilepticus despite anticonvulsant therapy with two or three medications in proper doses; it is defined as malignant status epilepticus if it takes weeks or months. Intravenous immunoglobulin, high-dose steroids, magnesium infusion, pyridoxine, hypothermia, ketogenic diet, electroconvulsive therapy, and surgical therapy are the other treatment options for status epilepticus.

Our 5-year-old male patient was hospitalized at our pediatric intensive care unit because of status epilepticus secondary to meningoencephalitis. No response could be obtained with many medical and nonmedical therapies in our patient, who developed malignant status epilepticus with unknown etiology. Therapeutic plasma exchange was applied as convulsions continued.

Ours is the first child for whom therapeutic plasma exchange was successfully applied because of malignant refractory status epilepticus secondary to meningoencephalitis.

Therapeutic plasma exchange may be a treatment option for children with refractory status epilepticus following presumed meningoencephalitis.