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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · International Journal of Epilepsy 2017; 04(01): 098-103
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijep.2017.01.002
Review article
Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.

Treatment of refractory status epilepticus with electroconvulsive therapy: Need for future clinical studies

Anindya Kumar Ray
1   Department of Psychiatry, Malda Medical College, West Bengal, India
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Publication History

Received: 01 August 2016

Accepted: 11 January 2017

Publication Date:
06 May 2018 (online)

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Abstract

Status epilepticus (SE) is a serious medical emergency. Refractory-SE non-responsive to anesthetic medication is a life threatening condition with very high mortality rate. Proper management of those cases is a big medical challenge. Over the last two decades there are anecdotal reports of successful management of such cases with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in 12 patients of different age group with variable pattern of seizures and different etiology. However, there is no systematic research about it. ECT is a well-known safe, easy- to-administer, low-cost therapeutic modality in the field of neuro-psychiatry. Thus its potential to treat refractory-SE which essentially lacks effective management should be evaluated in future research. The objectives of this article are to do a thorough literature review on use of ECT in refractory-SE; mechanism of action of ECT in refractory-SE; and finally formulate a working protocol for future study of using ECT in patients of refractory-SE.

Keywords

ECT - Antiepileptic-action - Refractory status-epilepticus - Treatment protocol
 

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