Petit-mal-Status bei Hyperthyreose

A 68-year-old woman who, for the first time, had a generalized tonic-clonic seizure and persisting confusional state was found to have nodular enlargement of the thyroid and a tachycardic arrhythmia. Electroencephalography (EEG) demonstrated a continuous irregular polyspike wave pattern. Total T4 concentration was elevated to 23 micrograms/dl. Consecutive Administration of 250 mg phenytoin, 4 mg clonazepam and 7.5 mg midazolam changed neither the clinical nor the EEG findings. But after general intensive care measures and high-dose thyrostatic treatment (40 mg thiamazole intravenously every four hours) the clinical and neurological status became normal. Serial EEGs over the subsequent weeks…