SERUM NEURON-SPECIFIC ENOLASE IN HUMAN STATUS EPILEPTICUS

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a sensitive marker of brain injury af ter stroke, global ischemia, and coma. We report changes in serum NSE (s-NSE) in 19 patients who sustained status epilepticus. s-NSE peaked within 24 to 48 hours after status epilepticus. The mean peak s-NSE le vel for the entire group was elevated compared with the levels for nor mal controls (24.87 ng/ml versus 5.36 ng/ml, p = 0.0001) and for epile ptic controls (24.87 ng/ml versus 4.61 ng/ml, p = 0.0001), The mean pe ak s-NSE level for the 11 subjects without an acute neurologic insult (15.44 ng/ml) was also significantly increased compared with levels fo r normal and epileptic controls. Further, s-NSE was significantly corr elated with outcome and duration. We conclude that s-NSE is a promisin g in vivo marker of brain injury in status epilepticus and warrants fu rther study in larger populations.