Long-term survival in patients with status epilepticus: a tertiary referral center study.

Abstract

To determine long-term survival in patients with status epilepticus (SE).
We prospectively followed patients admitted for the first (69.6%) or recursive episode of SE between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1997 at the Institute of Neurology, Belgrade, Serbia, until death or study termination (December 31, 2006). Data were obtained for cause of death; etiology of SE-acute symptomatic (AS), progressive symptomatic (PS), remote symptomatic (RS), and idiopathic/cryptogenic (I/C); presence of epilepsy; and reoccurrence of SE. Standardized mortality rate (SMR), survival, and regression analysis were used.
A total of 120 of 750 patients with an episode of SE (15.9%) died in the 30-day period following SE. Data for 207 of 630 (32.8%) surviving patients (35.7% with initial SE) were available at the end of follow-up [median 12 years; 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.1-12.8]. SMR was significantly increased (SMR = 1.81; 95% CI 1.32-2.41). There were 46 deaths (22.2%): 15 of 65 in the AS, 20 of 29 in the PS, 6 of 29 in the RS, and 5 of 75 in the I/C groups. Five-year survival rate was lowest in the PS (45%) compared to AS (91%), RS (87%), and I/C (99%) groups. The following characteristics increased long-term risk for mortality: older age [Exp(B) 1.05, 95% CI 1.029-1.072], PS and AS etiology [Exp(B) 15.6, 95% CI 5.8-41.6; 3.3, 95% CI 1.2-9.1], presence of epilepsy [Exp(B) 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.3], and initial SE [Exp(B) 2.4, 95% CI 1.4-4.4].
Approximately one of five patients die within 12 years after an episode of SE. Symptomatic SE (PS and AS), initial SE, age, and presence of epilepsy are associated with long-term increased risk of death.