Prevalence, Aetiology and Outcome of Status Epilepticus in Children with Convulsions at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa

Status epilepticus (SE) in childhood is a life threatening condition with serious risk of neurological sequelae and constitutes a medical emergency. The aim of this study is to provide data on the prevalence, aetiology and outcome of status epilepticus in children at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, South-West Nigeria. We prospectively studied all the 276 children who were admitted with convulsion over a period of seven months, out of which 39 (14.1%) had status epilepticus. The cause of status epilepticus in 82.1% of the patients was cerebral malaria; other causes were febrile convulsion, meningitis, seizure disorders and head injury. The mortality and morbidity (neurologic sequelae at discharge) in this study were 23.1% and 33.3%, respectively. Mortality and morbidity were significantly higher in children who had status epilepticus compared to those who convulsed but did not have status. (χ2=33.773, df=1, p<0.001), (χ2=43.991, df=1, p<0.001). In conclusion, morbidity and mortality of SE is high and control of malaria will most likely reduce the prevalence and improve the outcome of SE in this environment.