Status epilepticus is a clinical situation in which an epileptic seizure (generalized or focal, motor or otherwise) is prolonged for more than 20 minutes or in which the crises repeat themselves at very short intervals (less than a minute) such as to represent a continuous epileptic condition.
Status epilepticus (SE) is an emergency that, repeating over time, involves brain damage which may also have a fatal outcome. It therefore requires immediate diagnosis and treatment.
SE is distinguished as either generalized or partial. The guidelines for the management of SE as defined by LICE (Italian League Against Epilepsy) also distinguish between three different stages of SE (initial, defined and refractory), based on the time elapsed from the onset of the state and responsiveness to the drugs administered.
Treatment should be started as soon as possible; benzodiazepines represent the first-choice drugs.
Approximately 20% of patients are not identified with a trigger and this is more common in patients who already suffer from epilepsy; in 50% of the cases of SE in patients with a history of pre-existing epilepsy, the most frequent cause of the onset of an SE is the (voluntary or random) modification of chronic therapy.
PIAM, always active in the world of neurology, has chosen to be present in this specific pathology proposing therapeutic solutions that facilitate the administration of the drug.