There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Epidemiologic data on convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) is needed to develop preventative
strategies. Epilepsy is one of the known risk factors for CSE. A systematic review
of epidemiologic studies on status epilepticus (SE) completed in the United States
and Europe reports that people with epilepsy account for less than 50% of cases of
SE in all age groups. Less is known about the epidemiology of SE in developing countries
including those in Central America. A high incidence of epilepsy, widespread non-adherence
to anti-epileptic drugs (AED), and common use of complementary and alternative medicines
have been shown in all ages in the developing country of Honduras, Central America.
In 2003, an epidemiologic study of CSE in Honduran children demonstrated it is common
and exhibits a long duration until onset of treatment. The etiologies, treatment,
and outcomes of CSE in Honduran adults have not been thoroughly studied. This study
is a consecutive case series of 31 adult patients presenting with CSE to the adult
medicine emergency department of the tertiary care "Hospital Escuela" in the capital
city Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The majority (77.4%) of patients had a prior history of
epilepsy. Non-adherence to AED was the most common etiology of CSE (75.0%). The mortality
rate in this pilot CSE study was 14.8%, which is similar to studies from industrialized
countries where mortality from status epilepticus ranged from 7.6 to 22% for all age
groups. However, this rate is concerning given that CSE from epilepsy and AED non-adherence
generally carries a good prognosis. Improving AED adherence in this population appears
to be the most effective approach in decreasing the rate, and possibly the mortality
of Honduran adult CSE.