Refractory Status Epilepticus Treated With Vagal Nerve Stimulation
Brent R. O’Neill(Children's Hospital Colorado), James Valeriano(Neurology, Inc), Andrea Synowiec(Neurology, Inc), Daniel Thielmann(Neurology, Inc), Carole Lane(Neurology, Inc), Jack E. Wilberger(Allegheny General Hospital)
Cited by 32
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE Status epilepticus (SE) refractory to medical treatment has a high mortality rate and few effective treatments. CLINICAL PRESENTATION We describe the implantation of a vagal nerve stimulator to help terminate a case of refractory SE. A 23-year-old man was in SE for 3 weeks without being able to be weaned from intravenous anesthetic agents. After implantation of a vagal nerve stimulator, SE soon terminated, and the patient could be weaned from sedative agents and made a full recovery. CONCLUSION Vagal nerve stimulator should be considered in cases of refractory SE. ABBREVIATIONS EEG: electroencephalogram GTCS: generalized tonic-clonic seizure SE: status epilepticus VNS: vagal nerve stimulator