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Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a leading epilepsy related cause of death. Researchers have highlighted the similarities between SUDEP and Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) but perinatal risk factors such as those identified for SIDS, have not been assessed previously for SUDEP. We carried out a population-based case-control of 58 SUDEP individuals and...

The prevalence of suicide in the United States has seen an increasing trend and is responsible for 1.6% of all mortality nationwide. While suicide has the potential to broadly impact the entire population, it has a substantially increased prevalence in persons with epilepsy (PWE) despite many of these individuals consistently seeing a health care provider....

This commentary published April 12, 2022 in Epilepsy Currents discussed publications related to two national studies conducted in Scotland and Denmark. Learn more

Abstract Objective: Our aim was to describe the risk factors known to be related to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) that can be extracted from patients that utilizes an online seizure diary tool (SeizureTracker™). Method: We conducted a descriptive analysis of SeizureTracker™ users across factors relevant to SUDEP risk. We also compared our app-using cohort to...

Discussing mortality in epilepsy can be a major source of discomfort for people living with epilepsy, their families, and caregivers. Consequently, providers sometimes avoid discussing the subject, and those with epilepsy and their loved ones are not given valuable information to help them make informed choices about care, wellness, and lifestyle. Additionally, epilepsy-related deaths are...

Abstract Objective: To investigate the opinions and attitudes of neurologists on the counseling about sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) worldwide. Methods: Practicing neurologists from around the world were invited to participate in an online survey. On February 18th, 2021, we emailed an invitation including a questionnaire (using Google-forms) to the lead neurologists from 50 countries. The...

Abstract Background and Objectives Mortality is increased in epilepsy, but the important issue is that a proportion of epilepsy-related death is potentially preventable by optimized therapy and therefore needs to be identified. A new systematic classification of epilepsy-related mortality has been suggested to identify these preventable deaths. We applied this classification to an analysis of premature...

In this issue of Neurology®, Klovegard et al.1 examine epilepsy mortality using a wide-angle lens, looking beyond sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) to other direct and indirect causes of epilepsy-related deaths. They found that most deaths in children and adults <50 years old were directly or indirectly related to epilepsy. Thus, epilepsy may be the leading...