When patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are misdiagnosed as having nonconvulsive status epilepticus.

ABSTRACT: Contemporary studies report nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), based on benzodiazepine (BZP)-responsive epileptiform discharges on the electroencephalogram (EEG), with the following false syllogism: (1) intravenous (IV) administration of BZPs usually suppress ictal activity in NCSE; (2) in CJD, periodic sharp wave complexes (PSWCs) are suppressed by IV BZPs; (3) therefore, these patients have NCSE. This is a simplistic and invalid conclusion, because authors of 20th-century science reports have clearly shown that IV BZPs, short-acting barbiturates, and drugs with no antiseizure effects, such as chloral hydrate and IV naloxone, suppress PSWCs, but patients fall asleep with no clinical improvement. In contrast, IV methylphenidate transiently improves

SUBMITTER: Gelisse P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11997924 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature