Brain, Vol. 124, No. 12, 2345-2346,
December 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press
Editorial |
Forebrain lateralization and the cardiovascular correlates of epilepsy
PharmaNet, Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA
Two papers in this issue of Brain remind us that autonomic dysregulation and cardiac arrhythmias are not uncommon correlates of seizures (Druschky et al., 2001
; Tinuper et al., 2001). These phenomena are important as mechanistic pointers towards the cause of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). This condition has a frequency of ~0.5% and is independent of the type and severity of the convulsion (Leestma et al., 1984). In a reported case of a patient who died unexpectedly whilst undergoing cardiac monitoring, a non-resuscitable malignant ventricular arrhythmia occurred, indicating the likely arrhythmogenic cause of SUDEP (Dasheiff and Dickinson, 1986). To
References