I'm Dr. Joshua Schwimmer, a nephrologist and internal medicine physician in New York City. • Kidney Notes was the first active nephrology blog. (Trivia: Kidney Notes is so old that the National Library of Medicine still uses it as an example of how to formally cite blogs.) • Professionally, you can find me at Kidney.nyc. • Kidney Notes is for educational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult qualified health care professionals. See disclaimer.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Medical Conversation of the Day: Status Epilepticus

"So if you walk in on a patient who's had a stroke, and they're grunting rhythmically, and they have automatic movements of their left arm, and they're unresponsive to noxious stimuli, what could be going on?"

"They're masturbating?"

"Sure. But it could also be nonconvulsive status epilepticus..."

(I hate walking in on people in nonconvulsive status. This has happened a few times, unfortunately, most recently today.)