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Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to establish strategies for prophylaxis against status epilepticus (SE) associated with high fever and for management of ongoing SE in children with severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (SMEI)., Methods: The investigation was performed retrospectively using a questionnaire, asking about medications, which was distributed to epilepsy specialists throughout Japan. All respondents were members of the Japan Epilepsy Society (JES) and/or the Japanese Society of Child Neurology (JSCN). Data from 109 SMEI patients (51 males and 58 females), 1-37 (M+/-SD, 10.7+/-6.53) years old, were used for this study. Of these 109 patients, 10 were excluded because they had not experienced SE, such that data from 99 patients were analyzed., Results: Among the anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) used daily, excellent efficacy against SE evolution was obtained with the following: potassium bromide (KBr) (41.7%), zonisamide (ZNS) (13.5%), clobazam (CLB) (10.0%), valproate (VPA) (8.0%), phenobarbital (PB) (6.7%), and phenytoin (PHT) (2.6%). Excellent efficacy was not obtained with either clonazepam (CZP) or carbamazepine (CBZ). The diazepam (DZP) suppository was the most frequently given drug for prophylaxis against SE triggered by fever, but only 2 (2.4%) cases showed excellent results. Excellent efficacy in terminating ongoing SE was obtained with the following medications; intravenous barbiturates (75-100%), intravenous midazolam (MDZ) (68.8%), intravenous DZP (54.3%), intravenous lidocaine (Lid) (21.4%), and intravenous PHT (15.4%)., Conclusions: Daily KBr was most efficacious for controlling seizures in SMEI patients. Early use of intravenous barbiturates is the most effective strategy in stopping SE in a subset of patients. Reliable efficacy in SE was not obtained with prophylactic DZP, intravenous benzodiazepines (BZPs), PHT and Lid.

We evaluated the usefulness of intravenous lidocaine therapy for managing of status epilepticus (SE) during childhood in a retrospective multi-institutional study. Questionnaires were sent to 28 hospitals concerning patients admitted for SE who were managed with lidocaine, assessing patient characteristics, treatment protocols and efficacy. In 279 treated patients, 261 SE occurrences at ages between 1 month and 15 years were analyzed. SE was classified as showing continuous, clustered, or frequently repeated seizures. Considering efficacy and side effects in combination, the usefulness of lidocaine was classified into six categories: extremely useful, useful, slightly useful, not useful, associated with deterioration, or unevaluated. In 148 SE cases (56.7%), lidocaine was rated as useful or extremely useful. Multivariate analysis indicated lidocaine was to be useful in SE with clustered and frequently repeated seizures, and SE attributable to certain acute illnesses, such as convulsions with mild gastroenteritis. Efficacy was poor when SE caused by central nervous system (CNS) infectious disease. Standard doses (approximately 2mg/kg as a bolus, 2mg/kg/h as maintenance) produced better outcomes than lower or higher doses. Poor responders to the initial bolus injection of lidocaine were less likely to respond to subsequent continuous infusion than good initial responders. We recommend lidocaine for use in SE with clustered or frequently repeated seizures, and in SE associated with benign infantile convulsion and convulsions with mild gastroenteritis. Lidocaine should be initiated with a bolus of 2mg/kg. If SE is arrested by the bolus, continuous maintenance infusion should follow; treatment should proceed to different measures when SE shows a poor response to the initial bolus of lidocaine.

Walker-Warburg syndrome (WWS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by type II lissencephaly, cerebellar and retinal anomalies, and congenital muscular dystrophy. We report a female diagnosed with WWS based on clinical criteria. This patient was found to have fetal hydrocephalus on ultrasonography at 29 weeks of gestation, and exhibited severe hypotonia, ocular malformations, and hydrocephalus at birth. MRI revealed type II lissencephaly, hydrocephalus, and other severe brain malformations. Genetic analysis was performed to distinguish WWS from severe Fukuyama-type congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD), which has numerous findings in common. This revealed no expression of the founder haplotype or single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) abnormalities. Since the life expectancy of patients with FCMD is longer, differential diagnosis should be performed precisely.

Of 196 children with febrile convulsions, 6.9 were placed on phenobarbital, 4-5 mg/kg/day b.i.d., and 32 on primidone, 15-20 mg/kg/day b.i.d. The remaining 95 children were given sodium valproate; the dosage was 20-25 mg/kg/day b.i.d. in 38 of them, 20-25 mg/kg/day t.i.d. in 24 of them, and 30 mg/kg/day b.i.d. in 33 patients. Recurrence rate of febrile convulsions during one year were not statistically different among these five groups. However, the dosage regimen of valproate of 20-25 mg/kg/day b.i.d. was relatively inferior to the other regimens of valproate in the prophylactic effect. This may be explained by the facts that when the same daily dosage of sodium valproate was given, the daily fluctuation of plasma levels was greater with the b.i.d.-regimen than with the t.i.d.-regimen, and that when the dosage interval was the same, the minimum plasma level of the day was lower with the smaller daily dosage regimen than with the larger one.

To determine the optimum dosage schedule for intermittent rectal diazepam in suppository form for the prevention of recurrent febrile convulsions, we studied the pharmacokinetics of diazepam administered in repeated rectal doses. The plasma concentration-time data for diazepam on twice repeated rectal dosing with 0.5 mg/kg at 8-hour intervals in six infants showed that therapeutic plasma levels could be attained within 30 minutes and maintained for the first 24 hours. Most of the observed plasma diazepam levels were found to be within +/- one standard deviation of the values calculated from the pharmacokinetic parameters in six other infants with single rectal dosing. Computer-simulated plasma level profile suggested that plasma diazepam levels may reach the toxic range after administration of five or more doses. Twice repeated rectal dosing with 0.5 mg/kg of diazepam in suppository form at 8-hour intervals during the febrile period may be a rational approach for the prevention of recurrent febrile convulsions.