| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
From the Departments of Neurology (Drs. Ficker, So, and Cascino), Cardiology (Dr. Shen), and Biostatistics (Dr. O'Brien), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; School of Public Health (Dr. Annegers), University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX; and Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office (Dr. Belau), Olmsted County, MN.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. David M. Ficker, Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 231 Bethesda Avenue, ML 525, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0525.
Objective: To determine the population-based incidence of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) and to determine the risk of SUDEP compared with the general population.
Background: Prior studies of SUDEP have described a wide range of incidence and have suffered from selection bias and other methodologic limitations. A population-based study of the incidence of SUDEP has never been performed. Furthermore, the risk of sudden death in the epilepsy population has not been compared with that of the general population.
Methods: All deaths in persons whose epilepsy was diagnosed between 1935 and 1994 in Rochester, MN, were reviewed. The rate of SUDEP was compared with the expected rate of sudden death in the general population for patients age 20 to 40 years to determine the standardized mortality ratio (SMR).
Results: We identified nine cases of SUDEP. SUDEP accounted for 8.6% (7 of 81) of the deaths in persons 15 to 44 years of age. The incidence of SUDEP was 0.35 per 1,000 person-years. SMR for SUDEP was 23.7 (95% confidence interval, 7.7 to 55.0) compared with the general population.
Conclusions: The incidence of SUDEP in our study was 0.35 per 1,000 person-years. SUDEP was responsible for 1.7% of deaths in our cohort. SUDEP is a rare cause of death in the epilepsy population but exceeds the expected rate of sudden death in the general population by nearly 24 times.
Presented in part at the 51st annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Boston, MA, December 1997; and the 50th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Minneapolis, MN, April 1998.
Received April 27, 1998. Accepted in final form July 18, 1998.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. H. Noe and J. F. Drazkowski Safety of Long-term Video-Electroencephalographic Monitoring for Evaluation of Epilepsy Mayo Clin. Proc., June 1, 2009; 84(6): 495 - 500. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. C. Stecker, C. Vickers, J. Waltz, C. Socoteanu, B. T. John, R. Mariani, J. H. McAnulty, K. Gunson, J. Jui, and S. S. Chugh Population-Based Analysis of Sudden Cardiac Death With and Without Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction: Two-Year Findings from the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., March 21, 2006; 47(6): 1161 - 1166. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Cheung and E. Wirrell Adolescents' Perception of Epilepsy Compared With Other Chronic Diseases: "Through a Teenager's Eyes" J Child Neurol, March 1, 2006; 21(3): 214 - 222. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Persson, E. Kumlien, M. Ericson, and T. Tomson Preoperative heart rate variability in relation to surgery outcome in refractory epilepsy Neurology, October 11, 2005; 65(7): 1021 - 1025. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. T. Berg, S. Shinnar, F. M. Testa, S. R. Levy, S. N. Smith, and B. Beckerman Mortality in Childhood-Onset Epilepsy Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, December 1, 2004; 158(12): 1147 - 1152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J W Sander and G S Bell Reducing mortality: an important aim of epilepsy management J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, March 1, 2004; 75(3): 349 - 351. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. K. Woodruff, J. W. Britton, S. Tigaran, G. D. Cascino, M. F. Burritt, J. P. McConnell, J. Ravkilde, H. Molgaard, F. Andreasen, M. Dam, et al. Cardiac troponin levels following monitored epileptic seizures Neurology, May 27, 2003; 60(10): 1690 - 1692. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y Langan, L Nashef, and J W A S Sander Certification of deaths attributable to epilepsy J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, December 1, 2002; 73(6): 751 - 752. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M Black and D I Graham Sudden unexplained death in adults caused by intracranial pathology J. Clin. Pathol., January 1, 2002; 55(1): 44 - 50. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Shinnar and J. M. Pellock Update on the Epidemiology and Prognosis of Pediatric Epilepsy J Child Neurol, January 1, 2002; 17(1_suppl): S4 - S17. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Corrado, C. Basso, and G. Thiene Sudden cardiac death in young people with apparently normal heart Cardiovasc Res, May 1, 2001; 50(2): 399 - 408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. A. Racoosin, J. Feeney, G. Burkhart, and G. Boehm Mortality in antiepileptic drug development programs Neurology, February 27, 2001; 56(4): 514 - 519. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T.S. Walczak, I.E. Leppik, M. D'Amelio, J. Rarick, E. So, P. Ahman, K. Ruggles, G.D. Cascino, J.F. Annegers, and W.A. Hauser Incidence and risk factors in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: A prospective cohort study Neurology, February 27, 2001; 56(4): 519 - 525. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. S. Chugh, K. L. Kelly, and J. L. Titus Sudden Cardiac Death With Apparently Normal Heart Circulation, August 8, 2000; 102(6): 649 - 654. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Schnabel, M. Beblo, and T. W. May Is geomagnetic activity a risk factor for sudden unexplained death in epilepsies? Neurology, February 22, 2000; 54(4): 903 - 908. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
