Short-Term Outcome of Convulsive Status Epilepticus in Hospital Admitted Children: Etiology and Clinical Feature in North-West Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Status epilepticus (SE) is a serious neurological problem in children. In sub-Saharan Africa, the high incidence of febrile illnesses and poor health care system influence the outcome of convulsive status epilepticus. However, in Ethiopia there have been few outcome studies of convulsive status epilepticus. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the etiology, clinical features and short-term outcomes of childhood convulsive status epilepticus in Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross sectional study based on hospital-based retrospective data from 2013 to 2018 was conducted. A total of 82 children diagnosed with epilepsy were included. The data were collected using a data extraction format and entered into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were applied.

Results: Eighty-two patients participated during the study period. Generalized tonic clonic seizure was the commonest type of seizure (86.6%). Pyogenic meningitis and malaria were the leading cause of status epilepticus accounting for 26.9% and 9.8% respectively. The proportion of good recovery was 61% (95% CI; 51.2 to 73%). In the multivariate analysis co-morbidity was found to have significant association with short-term treatment protocols (AOR=3.354; 95%CI: 1.018, 11.045).

Conclusion: Acute symptomatic status epilepticus was the common cause in all age groups and most patients arrived late for medical care. Co-morbidity was significantly associated with short-term treatment and poor outcomes. Hence, there is a need for education of caregivers and patients with co-morbidities and indications for extended care. In addition, early diagnosis and management of malaria and meningitis is important.