Continuous EEG monitoring and midazolam infusion for refractory nonconvulsive status epilepticus

Background: Although cIV-MDZ has emerged as a popular alternative to barbiturate therapy for refractory status epilepticus (RSE), experience with its use for this indication is limited. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of continuous intravenous midazolam (cIV-MDZ) for attaining sustained seizure control in patients with RSE. Methods: The authors reviewed 33 episodes of RSE treated with cIV-MDZ in their neurologic intensive care unit over 6 years. All patients were monitored with continuous EEG (cEEG). MDZ infusion rates were titrated to eliminate clinical and EEG seizure activity; cIV-MDZ was discontinued once patients were seizure-free for 24 hours. Acute treatment failures (seizures 1 to 6 hours after starting cIV-MDZ), breakthrough seizures (after 6 hours of therapy), post-treatment seizures (within 48 hours of discontinuing therapy), and ultimate treatment failure (frequent seizures that led to treatment with pentobarbital or propofol) were identified. Results: All patients were in nonconvulsive SE at the time cIV-MDZ was started; the mean duration of SE before treatment was 3.9 days (range 0 to 17 days). In addition to benzodiazepines, 94% of patients had received at least two antiepileptic drugs (AED) before starting cIV-MDZ. The mean loading dose was 0.19 mg/kg, the mean maximal infusion rate was 0.22 mg/kg/h, and the mean duration of cIV-MDZ therapy was 4.2 days (range 1 to 14 days). Acute treatment failure occurred in 18% (6/33) of episodes, breakthrough seizures in 56% (18/32), posttreatment seizures in 68% (19/28), and ultimate treatment failure in 18% (6/33). Breakthrough seizures were clinically subtle or purely electrographic in 89% (16/18) of cases and were associated with an increased risk of developing posttreatment seizures (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Although most patients with RSE initially responded to cIV-MDZ, over half developed subsequent breakthrough seizures, which were predictive of post-treatment seizures and were often detectable only with cEEG. Titrating cIV-MDZ to burst suppression, more aggressive treatment with concurrent AED, or a longer period of initial treatment may reduce the high proportion of patients with RSE who relapse after cIV-MDZ is discontinued.