Non-convulsive Status EpilepticusPresented as an Acute Psychotic State

Overview

Non-convulsive status epilepticus is defined as a sudden change of behaviour or cognitive functionswhich is definitely different from the previous mental state and persists for at least 30minutes, showing epileptic (paroxysmal) signs on the EEG. The classical clinical characteristic ofnon-convulsive status epilepticus is a sudden change of behaviour, cognitive functions or variousqualitative or quantitative changes of consciousness and therefore these symptoms are oftendiagnosed as psychogenic and patients are hospitalised in other than neurological departments.We have chosen this topic because the erroneous diagnosis and inadequate treatment have a clinicalrelevant influence on the patient’s prognosis as demonstrated in our case-report.

Key words:
status epilepticus, non-convulsive status epilepticus, EEG.