NIH Outlines Plans for Study of Pediatric Seizures – May 23, 2007

The scenario unfolds almost every day in the United States. A crowd gathers at a playground, or perhaps on a soccer field. A child has fallen to the ground, gripped by a seizure. Usually, the twitching and jerking stop within a few minutes. If they do not, the condition becomes status epilepticus, continuous unrelenting seizures that can lead to brain damage ? or even death ? if not treated. An ambulance rushes the child to a nearby hospital emergency department. There, doctors do their best to administer life-saving treatment as quickly as possible. Before they can treat the patient, however, they must choose between one of two drugs commonly prescribed to treat the condition.