title: Prolonged coma and severely attenuated EEG after a single seizure.
abstract: A 63-year-old woman presented with a comatose state after a fall. Results of cranial computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were normal. An EEG recorded 5 h after admission was very severely attenuated and slowed. Consciousness and EEG were improved the next day. No cause was detected initially. After sleep deprivation, the patient had a generalized seizure followed by a similar coma and EEG. Even a single seizure may cause a prolonged coma with a very severely attenuated and slowed EEG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Leiden University Hospital, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Arnoldus
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Bloem
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lammers
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D003128:Coma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed