Patients with generalized epilepsy are also at risk for SUDEP

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most catastrophic consequence of epilepsy. About 1 in 1,000 patients with epilepsy will experience SUDEP each year and SUDEP is the most common cause of death in people with pharmacoresistant seizure disorders.(1,2) Understanding which patients are at risk for SUDEP is of paramount importance to patients and their health care providers. The most consistent finding from prior studies is that the presence and frequency of convulsive seizures are major risk factors for SUDEP.(1,3) Other risk factors that may increase the risk of SUDEP include early age at onset, long duration of epilepsy, nocturnal seizures, medication nonadherence, being alone at the time of terminal seizure, and drug and alcohol use.(1,3,4) Clinical and translational research into the etiology of SUDEP is exploring potential biomarkers of cardiopulmonary and autonomic dysfunction during and following seizures, though so far no one clear pattern has emerged as predictive of SUDEP risk.(4,5)