Objective: Tachyarrhythmias are common during epileptic seizures while bradyarrhythmias or asystoles are less frequent. Ictal asystole might be related to epilepsy-induced cardiac sympathetic denervation.
Methods: To evaluate cardiac post-ganglionic denervation in epilepsy patients with ictal asystoles we assessed I123-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) as a marker of post-ganglionic cardiac norepinephrine-uptake, using single photon emission computed tomography (MIBG-SPECT).
Results: In five of 844 patients with presurgical video-electroencephalography-monitoring, we recorded ictal asystoles during nine of 37 seizures. Asystole patients underwent cardiologic examination (Holter-electrocardiogram, echocardiogram) and cardiac MIBG-SPECT. We compared cardiac MIBG uptake in the asystole patients to the uptake in 18 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients without bradyarrhythmias and in 14 controls without cardiac or neurological disease. As the cardiological examinations were unremarkable in all subjects, the heart/mediastinum-MIBG-uptake ratios (H/M-ratios) differed significantly between the three groups (P = 0.004). H/M-ratios were lower in asystole TLE patients (mean +/- SD: 1.58 +/- 0.3) than in patients without asystole (1.81 +/- 0.18; P = 0.037) or controls (1.96 +/- 0.16).
Conclusions: Pronounced reduction in cardiac MIBG uptake of asystole patients indicates post-ganglionic cardiac catecholamine disturbance. Impaired sympathetic cardiac innervation limits adjustment and heart rate modulation, and may increase the risk of asystole and ultimately sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).