title: Prolongation of midazolam half-life after sustained infusion for status epilepticus.
abstract: Midazolam clearance was examined in two patients with medically refractory convulsive status epilepticus. One patient received a constant infusion of midazolam for 68 hours and the other patient received a constant infusion of midazolam for 148 hours. In both patients the decline in level was, overall, much slower than expected. The half-lives of the terminal phase were longer than typically published (52.9 hours in Patient 1 and 20.1 hours in Patient 2). Thus, the data suggest that midazolam exhibits use-dependent pharmacokinetic changes that may be important clinically in situations that require prolonged midazolam therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Southern Illinois University, Springfield 62794-9637, USA.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Naritoku
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008874:Midazolam / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D008874:Midazolam