EPILEPTIC SEIZURES: AN IMPORTANT NEUROLOGICAL MANIFESTATION IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Resumo

Introduction: Epileptic seizures (ES) represent the most frequent neurological manifestation in emergency departments, accounting about 1-5% of attendances. The frequency of ES is higher in pediatric patients because of a lower threshold of the immature brain to trigger these episodes. Objectives: Compare the frequency of hospitalizations attributed to ES in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU-PED) of a University Hospital in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the range of 1 year with the frequency of other published studies. Methods: We compared the population of patients admitted to the sector properly registered in the admission book with data obtained from a systematic review performed by an electronic search on Pubmed and Virtual Health Library data from May 2013 to May 2014. Results and discussion: In the analyzed period, 15 admissions due to ES were registered, which represented 4% of the total. There was a predominance of males in the ratio of 2:1 and the predominant age group was infants (between 28 days and one year), with age ranging from 30 days to 11 years. Among patients of indigenous race there was only one record and there was no reported death due to ES in the period. Until they are 20 years old, 90% of individuals who will be epileptics have already started their epileptic seizures; Among children, 60% had their first seizure until 3 years old, occurring mostly in the 1st year. It was found deterioration in neurological status previous in 8,7% and was diagnosed epilepsy subsequent to ES in 13% of the children. Some studies have shown the predominance of epilepsy in males and in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic groups. Conclusion: ES is the most common neurological emergency in childhood. May be associated with high mortality and morbidity.