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Dravet syndrome (DS) is an infantile onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Sodium channel blockers are known to exacerbate seizures in this syndrome. Due to its high incidence, the management of prolonged seizures is crucial for DS patients. There is still ambiguity regarding the use of intravenous phenytoin for prolonged seizure in DS patients mainly due to the lack of data, raising concern about the safety of it use. We conducted a retrospective study (from January 2009 to January 2020) aiming to assess the management of prolonged seizures in DS with a focus on the use of intravenous phenytoin. Data were collected for patients admitted to our hospital for seizures lasting >5 min. Among 52 identified patients in our database, 23 experienced 59 prolonged seizures managed in our hospital. Only four seizures ceased without rescue medication. Notably, the use of intravenous phenytoin was not associated with discernible adverse effects and was effective in stopping status epilepticus in 71% of cases. This study suggests the safety and efficacy of intravenous phenytoin for prolonged seizure in DS. There is a need for broader investigations of emergency treatments for evidence‐based recommendations for the emergency plan of each patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ketogenic diet (KD) history, Wilder is often mentioned as the first author to report on the use of KD for patients with epilepsy. Our article aimed to understand how Wilder formulated the hypothesis of the KD effectiveness for patients with epilepsy, and how the KD was used and spread in the 1920s. In 1921, Wilder published two articles on the effects of ketonemia on epilepsy. He first reported on the interest of fasting for patients with epilepsy, suggesting that the benefits of fasting on seizures might be dependent on ketonemia. He then hypothesized that equally good results could be obtained with a KD, very rich in fat and very low in carbohydrate, which would provoke ketogenesis, and observed the effects of this diet on three patients for the first time. Following the publication of Wilder articles, 9 papers on KD were published during the 1920s, involving more than 400 patients with epilepsy. Ketogenic diet therapies (KDT) are now evidence-based treatments of epilepsy. Available experimental data do not confirm the role of ketosis as the unique mechanism of the KD. The KD is still explored to understand all the underlying mechanisms. • Wilder published two papers on two consecutive days in July 1921. • Wilder reported the first use of the ketogenic diet in three patients with epilepsy. • The use of the ketogenic diet rapidly spread in the 1920s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]