Status Epilepticus as an Unusual Manifestation of Heat Stroke

Abstract

Heat stroke (HS) is a medical emergency and life threatening condition, characterized by body temperature over 40°C. This can lead to dysfunction of multiple organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, blood coagulation system, and central nervous system. Neurological complications include change in consciousness, cerebellar dysfunction, convulsions, aphasia, muscular weakness, and parkinsonism. Cerebellar syndrome is the most common neurological finding in HS. We report a case of HS presenting with status epilepticus, without any other neurological manifestations. A 42 year old man, previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was admitted to the emergency room with high fever and repetitive generalized tonic-clonic seizures. He had been found unconscious after 4 hours of heavy physical work under extremely hot weather conditions. He was diagnosed with HS accompanied by status epilepticus, and treated with emergency body cooling and antiepileptics. Five days after admission, he regained consciousness and the laboratory parameters that were initially abnormal returned to normal values. On day 14, he was discharged without any neurological complications.