Electroconvulsive therapy for refractory status epilepticus: A systematic review

Our goal was to perform an extensive systematic review of the literature on the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for refractory status epilepticus (RSE).

Articles from MEDLINE, BIOSIS, EMBASE, Healthstar, Global Health, Scopus, Cochrane Library, the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, clinicaltrials.gov (inception to August 2015), reference lists of relevant articles, and gray literature were searched. The strength of evidence was adjudicated using both the Oxford and GRADE methodology by two independent reviewers.

We identified 14 original articles with a total of 19 patients receiving ECT for RSE. Of the 19 patients, 15 were adult, and 4 were pediatric. All studies were retrospective in nature. Seizure reduction/control with the application of ECT occurred in 11 of the 19 patients (57.9%), with 4 (21.0%) and 7 (36.8%) displaying partial and complete responses respectively. Seizures control lasted for variable duration, with the most commonly quoted duration ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months. Data on patient functional outcome was available in 13 patients, with 10 patients falling into the categories of dead or severely disabled. All studies were an Oxford level 4, GRADE D level of evidence.

Oxford level 4, GRADE D evidence exists to suggest an improvement in seizure control with ECT application for RSE. Routine use of ECT cannot be recommended at this time. Further prospective study of this therapy is required in order to determine its efficacy in this setting.