gms | German Medical Science

59th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)
3rd Joint Meeting with the Italian Neurosurgical Society (SINch)

German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

1 - 4 June 2008, Würzburg

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Nonconvulsive status epilepticus: an uncommon but treatable postoperative complication following intracranial surgery

Der nonkonvulsive Status epilepsticus: eine seltene aber behandelbare postoperative Komplikation nach intrakraniellen Eingriffen

Meeting Abstract

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  • corresponding author M. Hartwich - Interdisziplinäre Intensivstation der Abteilungen für Neurologie und Neurochirurgie, Klinikum Kassel
  • M. Diessars - Interdisziplinäre Intensivstation der Abteilungen für Neurologie und Neurochirurgie, Klinikum Kassel
  • S. Kästner - Interdisziplinäre Intensivstation der Abteilungen für Neurologie und Neurochirurgie, Klinikum Kassel
  • A. Ferbert - Interdisziplinäre Intensivstation der Abteilungen für Neurologie und Neurochirurgie, Klinikum Kassel
  • W. Deinsberger - Interdisziplinäre Intensivstation der Abteilungen für Neurologie und Neurochirurgie, Klinikum Kassel

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Società Italiana di Neurochirurgia. 59. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie e.V. (DGNC), 3. Joint Meeting mit der Italienischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (SINch). Würzburg, 01.-04.06.2008. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2008. DocDI.08.07

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dgnc2008/08dgnc203.shtml

Published: May 30, 2008

© 2008 Hartwich et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Objective: Persistent coma following intracranial surgery is a rare complication mostly caused by postoperative haemorrhage. But in some cases the origin of the coma is not so obvious. In such cases a nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is a possible cause of diminished alertness. This study was performed to elucidate the incidence of NCSE as a cause of postoperative coma.

Methods: In a prospective survey, all patients with postoperative coma or severe psychopathological disorders underwent EEG-examination after exclusion of common complications such as rebleeding, drug delay, electrolyte shift or glucose imbalance.

Results: In a series of 175 scheduled intracranial procedures, four patients with NCSE were found to be the cause of unexplained coma or other severe psychopathological disorders. After initiation of antiepileptic treatment, all patients regained alertness.

Conclusions: NCSE is not as rare as expected. It is easy to diagnose with EEG and represents a treatable cause of a postoperative decline in alertness.