[The difficulty of defining and classifying status epilepticus].
Status epilepticus (SE) can theoretically be described using a simple definition based on physiopathological mechanisms: any seizure of epileptic nature, partial or generalized, convulsive or non-convulsive, lasting over a period of more than 30 minutes; or repeated seizures lasting for a period of over 30 minutes without recovery of consciousness. In the context of a historical review of various definitions, the validity of this definition is assessed and questioned. The heterogeneous nature of this condition is evidenced in daily clinical practice and by the results of epidemiologic studies. In the present study, the authors propose a more pragmatic and heuristic classification, taking into account not only clinical but also electroencephalographic data, as well as the particular nature of the epileptic syndrome when this is known.
Unité d'épileptologie clinique et d'EEG, hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, Suisse.
A
A
Coeytaux
P
P
Jallon
D006801:Humans; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000145:classification*; D009626:Terminology as Topic