In today's Lancet, Richard Chin and colleagues report findings from an important, prospective, population-based study in the UK on the incidence, cause, and short-term outcome of convulsive status epilepticus in childhood. This disorder is a neurological emergency and a potential cause of permanent neurological damage and functional sequelae. It continues to be associated with great morbidity and mortality despite treatment advances.Many neurologists believe that convulsive status epilepticus in children does not differ from that in adults. This notion is wrong: data for adults might not be directly applicable to children. The range of causes and the natural history of the disorder in children have not been well defined. Chin and colleagues' report is the first prospective population-based study of convulsive status epilepticus in children.Between 2002 and 2004, a total of 226 children living in north London (population 605230 children) and aged between 29 days and 15 years with convulsive status epilepticus were enrolled by Chin and colleagues. Of these, 176 had their first-ever episode. The researchers defined the disorder as tonic, clonic, or tonic-clonic seizure or two or more such attacks between which consciousness is not regained, which last at least 30 min. The large number of participants and high rate of ascertainment of episodes (74-81%) means that the study is likely to be comprehensive and reliable.
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