Sustained Effort Network for treatment of Status Epilepticus (SENSE) – A multicenter prospective observational registry

Abstract Status epilepticus (SE) is an important neurological emergency lacking adequate evidence for efficacy and safety of treatment beyond the application of benzodiazepines as first treatment step. To bridge the gap between the few pivotal trials and retrospective uncontrolled case series, we established a prospective multicenter registry recruiting patients in experienced centers in German-speaking countries. We could document 1179 episodes of 1049 patients over a period of 5 years. First data analysis showed that in the majority of the episodes, established treatment guidelines were not followed. Latency between status onset and different treatment steps were longer, and bolus doses lower than recommended. Moreover, a relevant proportion of the patients did not receive a benzodiazepine but levetiracetam as first treatment step. Although SE could be controlled in more than 90% of the episodes, lower bolus dose and longer treatment latency were associated with refractoriness of the SE in multivariate analysis. This article is part of the Special Issue "Proceedings of the 7th London-Innsbruck Colloquium on Status Epilepticus and Acute Seizures