Provoked seizures and status epilepticus in a pediatric population with COVID-19 disease.

ABSTRACT

We are reporting 16 pediatric patients (ages 0-18-years-old) who presented to our urban hospital emergency room with seizures and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the surge of the Omicron variant. There was an increased number of pediatric patients with seizures and COVID-19 during this period as compared to prior COVID-19 surges. The 16 patients ranged in age from 3 months to 12 years of age. Five of the 16 patients (31%) had a prior history of epilepsy. Eight patients (50%) presented in status epilepticus, and in six patients (38%) the seizures appeared to have focal features. Fourteen patients (88%) presented with a complex provoked seizure defined as exhibiting either focality, seizure >5 min in length, or more than one seizure in 24 h. We suggest that in the pediatric population, when compared to prior variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the Omicron variant is more likely to be associated with neurologic symptoms, including complex provoked seizures.