Clinical Profile and Predictors of In-Hospital Mortality in De Novo Convulsive Status Epilepticus in the Elderly Populace

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: De novo status epilepticus (SE) had worse outcome in comparison to the patients with SE who had previous history of epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to identify clinical features of de novo convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) and the predictors of in-hospital mortality. METHODS: Seventy-seven elderly (≥60 years of age) hospitalized patients with de novo CSE were evaluated for clinical profile, aetiologies and predictors of in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: The average age of the participants in the study was 65.96±6.72 years. In de novo CSE, the most common aetiologies were acute symptomatic in 68.8% of cases, followed by remote symptomatic in 24.7%. In-hospital mortality in the de novo CSE in the elderly was 30 (38.9%) in our series. Stroke was the leading cause of death among them (acute stroke in 23 cases and old infarct in 1 case), followed by post-traumatic (n=4) and CNS infection (n=2). On multivariate analysis, it was found that variables significantly related to mortality in de novo CSE were low Glasgow coma scale (GCS) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 53.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.17–555.14; p=0.001) and lack of response to first line treatment (AOR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01–0.50; p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital mortality in de novo CSE patients was linked to a low GCS and a lack of response to first-line therapy. The most efficient strategy to prevent in-hospital mortality in the elderly is to treat de novo CSE promptly and aggressively in the setting of stroke.