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To the Editor.—In their excellent overview of new treatments for epilepsy, Drs Herman and Pedley¹ mention that there are no published reports of the use of intravenous valproate sodium to treat status epilepticus. Although valproate sodium has not been approved in the United States for use in treating status epilepticus, intravenous valproic acid has been successfully used to treat partial and generalized status epilepticus (absence, myoclonic, and tonic-clonic seizures) in 23 patients.² In 19 of the 23 patients, status epilepticus regressed within 20 minutes of the intravenous bolus of 15 mg/kg followed by a 5- to 6-hour infusion of 1 mg/kg per hour, starting 30 minutes after the bolus (the infusion rate of the bolus was not specified).

I recently used intravenous valproate sodium to treat a patient with generalized nonconvulsive status epilepticus, thus avoiding sedation and a hospital admission.³ In selected cases, intravenous valproate may be useful in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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New Options for the Treatment of Epilepsy
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