Heart rate variability analysis indicates preictal parasympathetic overdrive preceding seizure‐induced cardiac dysrhythmias leading to sudden unexpected death in a patient with epilepsy
Population
1 patient with focal cortical dysplasia and a 19-year history of epilepsy undergoing presurgical evaluation…
Comparison
Heart rate variability analysis during long-term… vs Patient's own baseline values and preictal…
Design
Case_report
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
Should not yet guide SUDEP monitoring or risk stratification; leaves open whether parasympathetic overdrive precedes fatal seizures in larger cohorts.
Structured PICO
P
Population
1 patient with focal cortical dysplasia and a 19-year history of epilepsy undergoing presurgical evaluation, with no cardiologic antecedents, compared to a control group of 10 patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) without SUDEP.
I
Intervention
Heart rate variability analysis during long-term video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring.
C
Comparator
Patient's own baseline values (measured 1 day and 7 months prior) and preictal values from 10 control patients with GTCS without SUDEP.
O
Outcome
Heart rate variability (parasympathetic activity) and QTc interval preceding fatal seizures.surrogate
This case report provides rare documented evidence that autonomic imbalance (parasympathetic overdrive) and a short QTc interval may contribute to seizure-induced cardiac dysrhythmias leading to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
Cite This Study
Jeppesen et al. (2014) studied this question.