Introduction: In sub-Saharan Africa, cerebrovascular aetiologies of status epilepticus (SE) are on the rise alongside infectious brain lesions. The aim of our study was to describe the etiologic spectrum of SE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in a high risk SE setting. Patients and methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive, multicenter and hospital study of patients hospitalized consecutively in the university hospitals of the city of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, from 01/01/2015 to 12/31/2019, for SE. The sociodemographic, clinical, paraclinical (biological, critical and / or intercritical EEG, neuroradiological) characteristics and the aetiological data of the patients were analyzed using the Epi-info 7.2.1.0 software: calculations of numbers, frequencies, averages. The significance rate was set at 0.05. Results: 91 patients hospitalized for SE were collected, with a male predominance (73.62%). The mean age was 36.6 years +/-24.5 years (2 days and 86 years); 25 patients (27.5%) already had known epilepsy. Generalized tonic-clonic SE from the start and focal SE with convulsive bilateralization were the most common seizure types with 46 cases (50.5%) and 27 cases (29.7%), respectively. The average duration of an EME episode was 18 hours +/-31 (5 minutes -6 days). On admission, a focused motor deficit with 36 cases (46.7%) and fever in 28 patients (30.8%) were the main clinical signs; hyperleukocytosis with 23 cases (25.3) and anemia with 22 cases (24.2%), were the main laboratory abnormalities. On cerebral CT scan, sequelae with 33 cases (51.6%), acute stroke with 14 cases (21.9%) and acute meningoencephalitis with 8 cases (12.5%), were the most frequent. SEs symptomatic of acute brain disease, with 61 cases (67%), were dominated by infectious etiologies with 30 cases (33%) and acute strokes with 16 cases (17.6%). Among the non-acute or sequelae SEs of etiology, the sequelae of traumatic brain injury with 10 cases (11%) and the sequelae of stroke with 8 cases (8.8%) were the most represented. Conclusion: The aetiologies of SE are dominated in the Ouagadougou CHUs by CNS infections, acute or sequelae strokes and cranio-encephalic trauma. The fight against infectious diseases and the prevention of vascular risk factors will help reduce the frequency and severity of EMEs.

Introduction: Status epilepticus is one of the most common neurological emergency, with high morbidity and mortality and an often poor functional prognosis in survivors. We carried out the present study, to describe the intra-hospital clinical course and to identify the risk factors for intra-hospital death of patients hospitalized for status epilepticus in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Patients and methods: it was a prospective, cross-sectional, multi-center hospital, descriptive and analytical study, which took place from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019, involving patients consecutively hospitalized in the university hospitals of Ouagadougou, for status epilepticus. Sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data on admission, biological assessment on admission, EEG characteristics, brain scan and / or brain MRI results ; etiological diagnosis of status epilepticus and intra hospital evolutionary data of the patients, have been analyzed. Univariate analysis between the general characteristics of patients and the intra-hospital mortality, was performed in order to identify the risk factors for the intrahospital mortality. Results: The mean age of the patients was 36.6 years with an M / F sex ratio of 1.4 ; 66 patients (72.5%) had no clinical history of epilepsy, while 25 patients (27.5%) were already known to have epilepsy. The generalized tonic-clonic SE immediately (50.5%) and the focal secondarily generalized convulsive status epilepticus (29.7%) were the most common seizure types. The average duration of an SE episode was 18 hours. status epilepticus were subdivided into status epilepticus symptomatic of acute brain conditions with 61 cases (67%), dominated by central nervous system infections and acute strokes, and status epilepticus of non-acute or sequelae etiologies with 30 cases (33%), dominated by the sequelae of head trauma. Intra-hospital complications were dominated by prolonged post-critical mental confusion, 45 cases (49.4%) and aspiration pneumonia, 30 cases (33%). In-hospital mortality was 12.1% (11 patients). At the end of hospitalization, 49 patients (53.9%) still had moderate to severe disabilities. In univariate analysis, comatose non convulsive status epilepticus (p = 0.003), and altered consciousness on admission (p = 0.026), were the risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Prognosis of status epilepticus in Burkina Faso remains unfavorable with early mortality in more than one in 10 patients and poor functional outcome in more than half of the patients. Altered consciousness on admission and non-convulsive comatose status epilepticus were risk factors for early mortality. The fight against infectious diseases, the prevention of vascular risk factors, the promotion of helmet wearing in cyclists and motorcyclists, early admission of patients sufferinf of status epilepticus, and adequate and standardized management of status epilepticus, will help reduce the frequency and severity of this disease in our African regions.