1. Long-Term Survival and Outcome in Children Admitted to Kilifi District Hospital with Convulsive Status Epilepticus
- Author
-
Edwin Chengo, V Mung ala Odera, Charles R. Newton, Manish Sadarangani, P Holding, Greg Fegan, A Prins, and C Seaton
- Subjects
Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Article Subject ,business.industry ,Convulsive status epilepticus ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,medicine.disease ,Verbal autopsy ,3. Good health ,03 medical and health sciences ,Epilepsy ,0302 clinical medicine ,District hospital ,Long term survival ,parasitic diseases ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Neurology (clinical) ,business ,Neurocognitive ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cause of death ,Research Article - Abstract
Objectives. The incidence of convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) is high in Africa but the long-term outcome is unknown. We examined the neurocognitive outcome and survival of children treated for CSE in a Kenyan hospital 3 to 4 years after discharge. Methods. The frequency and nature of neurological deficits among this group of children were determined and compared to a control group. The children were screened with the Ten Questions Questionnaire for neurodevelopmental impairment if alive and those that screened positive were invited for further assessment to determine the pattern and extent of their impairment. A verbal autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death in those that died. Results. In the 119 cases followed-up, 9 (8%) died after discharge, with the majority having seizures during their fatal illness. The 110 survivors (median age 5 years) had significantly more neurological impairments on the screening compared to 282 controls (34/110 (30.9%) versus 11/282 (3.9%), OR = 11.0, 95% CI 5.3–22.8). Fifteen percent of the cases had active epilepsy. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the considerable burden of CSE in African children. Strategies to manage children with CSE that are acceptable to the community need to be explored to improve the longer-term outcome.
- Published
- 2014