Nonconvulsive status epilepticus after electroconvulsive therapy.

We describe three cases of nonconvulsive status epilepticus induced by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Nonconvulsive status epilepticus is an important differential diagnosis in patients who develop prolonged confusion after ECT. The present cases exemplify the difficulty in defining the diagnosis on the basis of the clinical manifestations.

On the increased risk of developing late-onset epilepsy for patients with major affective disorder.

Background: Based on register data we wanted to investigate whether patients with a diagnosis of affective disorder are at increased risk of developing epilepsy compared to other medically ill control groups.

Methods: By linkage of public hospital registers covering the whole of Denmark from 1977 to 1993, using ICD-8 diagnoses, three study cohorts were identified: Patients with first affective disorder episodes (mania and depression), patients with first osteoarthritis and patients with first diabetes discharge. Time to first diagnosis of epilepsy was estimated with the use of survival analysis.