The study - the first of its kind worldwide – provides insight into the long-term health impact of convulsive status epilepticus (CSE), in which a single seizure, or series of seizures, lasts for at least 30 minutes.
Researchers based at the Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre and UCL followed the health of more than 100 children for nine years after they had CSE. They found that lasting neurological conditions, including epilepsy, learning disabilities and movement problems were more common than expected for children from the general population. Moreover, children who had existing neurological or developmental issues at the time of a CSE were more likely to have a neurological problem at follow up than children without an existing neurological or developmental issue.
CSE is the most common medical emergency in young children, affecting 1 in 5000 people per year in the developed world. The long-term consequences of CSE are not well established.