A medical research study to learn how to treat patients with a type of prolonged seizures in the emergency department was recently performed in this community at The University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Before the study, doctors didn't know what medicine worked best. The study showed that three medicines commonly used to treat prolonged seizures all work similarly well, stopping seizures about half the time in both children and adults. The medicines were also similar in safety. These results give doctors more flexibility and confidence when treating patients with prolonged seizures.

The researchers thank the community for their support of this emergency research conducted with exception from consent. The study, called the Established Status Epilepticus Treatment Trial, or ESETT, was published in the November 28, 2019 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

To learn more about the research and the results visit the ESETT website at esett.org You can contact the primary study coordinator Virginia Ganley, RN with any questions at 410-328-6395 or email vganley@som.umaryland.edu.

For more information on the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials (NETT) Network, visit nett.umich.edu.