1. Trial design/2. Trial interventions Patients are screened in epileptological, neuropediatric, and neurological centers all over Germany. The study design was approved on a meeting in Bonn on April 20, 2002 by several external participants and by the ethical committee of the University of Bonn. Patients with the suspected diagnosis of RE are transferred to the Department of Epileptology of the University of Bonn. If the diagnosis "RE in the acute stage" is confirmed and the patient or (in children) the parents give informed consent, the patients are randomized to one of the two active treatment arms.