Clinical characteristics and prognosis in a large paediatric cohort with status epilepticus

To describe the aetiology, clinical features, and short-term outcomes of children with status epilepticus (SE), in particular super-refractory SE (SRSE), by a nationwide multicentre study in China.

In this retrospective study, inpatient children with SE were identified from neurology departments and paediatric intensive care units from 44 hospitals in 27 provinces of China between 2013 and 2015. Clinical data were exported from the Hospital Information System.

Clinical records from children with SE (n = 4255) aged 1 month to 18 years were enrolled; 13.1 % were diagnosed with SRSE. The most common known SE aetiology was acute symptomatic aetiology (42.8 %) and 50.2 % of SE was caused by epilepsy of unknown aetiology. Acute central nervous system (CNS) infections (38.8 %) were associated with SRSE (P < 0.001). The overall SE in-hospital mortality rate was 3.0 %, which was significantly higher in the children with SRSE than in those with non-SRSE (15.2 % versus 1.4 %, respectively; P < 0.001). Fourteen percent of the children with SE had various levels of neurological dysfunction at discharge. SRSE was a risk factor for in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio = 4.14; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 2.34-7.32; P < 0.001) and neurological dysfunction at discharge (odds ratio = 2.85; 95 % CI: 1.90-4.27; P < 0.001).

Acute symptomatic aetiology was the most common known cause of paediatric SE. Aetiology was associated with progression to SRSE and short-term neurological dysfunction at discharge. Furthermore, SRSE was considered a risk factor for in-hospital mortality and short-term neurological dysfunction.