The difficulty in defining and classifying status epilepticus.

Status epilepticus (SE) can theoretically be described using a simple defin ition based on physiopathological mechanisms: any seizure of epileptic natu re, partial or generalized, convulsive or non-convulsive, lasting over a pe riod of more than 30 minutes; or repeated seizures lasting for a period of over 30 minutes without recovery of consciousness. In the context of a hist orical review of various definitions, the validity of this definition is as sessed and questioned. The heterogeneous nature of this condition is eviden ced in daily clinical practice and by the results of epidemiologic studies. In the present study, the authors propose a more pragmatic and heuristic c lassification, taking into account not only clinical but also electroenceph alographic data, as well as the particular nature of the epileptic syndrome when this is known. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.