Circumstances surrounding sudden unexpected death in epilepsy in children: A national case series
Our study represents the largest pediatric SUDEP case series to date. SUDEP occurred in children of all ages, including infants, with a spectrum of epilepsies with and without neurodevelopmental impairment. The circumstances around death (i.e., timing of death, witnessed/unwitnessed) were similar to previous SUDEP cohorts. A recent infection was often observed, which could decrease seizure threshold and trigger a terminal seizure and may suggest that times of increased seizure risk could warrant heightened surveillance for SUDEP. However, further research is needed to determine the significance of this finding.
Authors
- Elisabeth Simard‐Tremblay
- Anne E. Keller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9890-3707)
- Elizabeth Donner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1126-0548)
- Robyn Whitney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6851-0646)
- Daniela Pohl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2996-7210)
- Mandeep S. Sidhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6440-8492)
- Shelly‐Anne Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0189-0880)
- Michael S. Pollanen
- Gabriel M. Ronen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7467-0627)
- Erick Sell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1287-6196)
- Anita Datta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7620-4868)
- Maryam Nabavi Nouri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-4890)
- Matthew MacDonald
Institutions
- Western University (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CA)
- Montreal Children's Hospital (CA)
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- SickKids Foundation (CA)
- McMaster University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia
- Published
- 2025-04-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.18339
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Epilepsy research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 13.24
Funders
- Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy
- Ontario Brain Institute