Time to treatment in prolonged seizure episodes.

Prompt intervention in seizure emergencies is critical to reducing morbidity and mortality risks associated with status epilepticus. To determine the need for wider education about the benefits of at-home treatment, we examined the time from seizure onset to initial treatment in a cohort of patients with epileptic seizures. The seizure database of patients admitted in the greater Richmond, Virginia, area during a 5-year period (1989-1994) was queried to extract time to seizure treatment. Records were available for 889 patients. Patients were divided into two subgroups: children (age < 16 years, 29.7% of the cohort) and adults. Time to seizure treatment varied broadly; only 41.5% of all patients received their first antiepilepsy drug within 30 minutes. Time to treatment did not significantly differ between age groups. This baseline study supports the need for patient education regarding seizure emergencies and wider availability of at-home treatment options to shorten time to seizure treatment.