| ■ NIH Study Will Compare Children's Seizure Drugs | 07.05.29 |
| A study to determine which drug -- Valium or Ativan -- is best to treat children with life-threatening status epilepticus seizures was announced Wednesday by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Associated Press reported. If not treated properly, status epilepticus (a series of continuous, severe seizures) can lead to brain damage or death. These events occur in about 60,000 people in the U.S. each year, mostly children. Head injury, a central nervous system infection, high fever, and low blood sugar are among the risk factors for status epilepticus. This study, funded by the NIH and to be conducted in 11 hospitals across the country, is unusual in that children with status epilepticus will be automatically enrolled in the trial when they're brought to the hospitals' emergency rooms. Doctors will not seek parents' permission at that point, the AP reported. This is because time is critical when treating these patients. A computer will randomly assign the children to receive either Valium or Ativan within five minutes after they arrive in the emergency room. Only after children's seizures have been brought under control will parents be told about the study and asked if they'll permit their child to remain in the study and receive additional medical monitoring, the AP reported. |