Serum neuron-specific enolase in human status epilepticus.
Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a sensitive marker of brain injury after stroke, global ischemia, and coma. We report changes in serum NSE (s-NSE) in 19 patients who sustained status epilepticus. s-NSE peaked within 24 to 48 hours after status epilepticus. The mean peak s-NSE level for the entire group was elevated compared with the levels for normal controls (24.87 ng/ml versus 5.36 ng/ml, p = 0.0001) and for epileptic controls (24.87 ng/ml versus 4.61 ng/ml, p = 0.0001). The mean peak s-NSE level for the 11 subjects without an acute neurologic insult (15.44 ng/ml) was also significantly increased compared with levels for normal and epileptic controls. Further, s-NSE was significantly correlated with outcome and duration. We conclude that s-NSE is a promising in vivo marker of brain injury in status epilepticus and warrants further study in larger populations.
DeGiorgio
C M
CM
Department of Neurology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90033, USA.
Correale
J D
JD
Gott
P S
PS
Ginsburg
D L
DL
Bracht
K A
KA
Smith
T
T
Boutros
R
R
Loskota
W J
WJ
Rabinowicz
A L
AL
D006801:Humans; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000097:blood*; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000097:blood*
D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase