Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of status epilepticus (SE) patients treated with intravenous phenytoin or intravenous sodium valproate as the first-line treatment
| Variables | Phenytoin group N = 37 | Sodium valproate N = 17 | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age;(years) |
40 (16–85) |
42 (16–76) |
0.852 |
| Male gender (%) |
17 (45.95) |
10 (58.82) |
0.379 |
| No preexisting condition, N (%) |
5 (13.51) |
3 (17.65) |
0.696 |
| History of epilepsy (%) |
6 (16.22) |
7 (41.18) |
0.084 |
| Antiepileptic drug withdrawal (%) |
4 (10.81) |
5 (29.41) |
0.121 |
| Admitted to internal medicine ward (%) |
14 (37.84) |
6 (35.29) |
1.000 |
| Generalized tonic clonic seizure type (%) |
37 (100) |
16 (94.12) |
0.315 |
| Weight (kgs)* |
55.5 (40–75) |
50 (39–97.5) |
0.343 |
| Time to start treatment (minutes) |
5 (5–90) |
10 (5–35) |
0.127 |
| Independent status prior to SE, N (%) |
28 (75.68) |
17 (100) |
0.177 |
| Laboratory findings |
|
|
|
| Hematocrit, g/dL* |
31 (15.6-45.7) |
36.5 (26–49.4) |
0.273 |
| Total white blood cells, cells/mm3* |
11610 (4100–29700) |
8965 (1100–14500) |
0.168 |
| Blood sugar, mg/dL* |
127 (37–568) |
131 (73–251) |
0.926 |
| Serum creatinine, md/dL* |
1 (0.5-6.1) |
0.9 (0.5-7) |
0.445 |
| Serum calcium, md/dL* |
8.4 (5.3-10.2) |
8.2 (0.9-10.7) |
0.976 |
| Serum albumin, g/dL* |
3.3 (1.2-7.4) |
4.0 (2.2-5.1) |
0.072 |
| ALT, U/L* |
30 (5–375) |
18 (4–165) |
0.242 |
| AST, U/L* |
56 (11–473) |
25.5 (0.3-2.2) |
0.115 |
| Creatinine kinase, U/L* |
276 (54–1500) |
174.5 (44–500) |
0.396 |
| Abnormal CT brain findings* |
17 (58.62) |
7 (53.85) |
1.000 |
| Electroencephalogram, N* | 9 (24.32) | 5 (29.42) | 0.745 |
Note. Data presented as median (range) or number (percentage), Data in phenytoin or sodium valproate group may not equal to 37 or 17, respectively due to missing data, ALT serum alanine transaminase, AST serum aspartate transaminase, CT computed tomography, * indicates missing data.