These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Ictal central apnea as a predictor for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
    Author: Schuele SU, Afshari M, Afshari ZS, Macken MP, Asconape J, Wolfe L, Gerard EE.
    Journal: Epilepsy Behav; 2011 Oct; 22(2):401-3. PubMed ID: 21816679.
    Abstract:
    Epidemiological evidence associating ictal hypoventilation during focal seizures with a heightened risk for subsequent sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is lacking. We describe a patient with temporal lobe epilepsy with two focal seizures recorded in the epilepsy monitoring unit that were associated with central apnea lasting 57 and 58 seconds. During these events, she demonstrated oxygen desaturation down to 68 and 62%. The patient subsequently died at home from autopsy-confirmed SUDEP. The family was not alerted of any seizure activity by the auditory alarm system in her room nor by sleeping in the adjacent room with open doors. This case emphasizes the fact that ictal hypoxia and SUDEP may occur in seizures without noticeable convulsive activity. The report gives credibility to the growing body of literature suggesting that epilepsies affecting the autonomic nervous system may predispose to SUDEP independent of the effects of a secondary generalized convulsion.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]