PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - L Nashef
AU  - S Garner
AU  - J W A S Sander
AU  - D R Fish
AU  - S D Shorvon
TI  - Circumstances of death in sudden death in epilepsy: interviews of bereaved relatives
AID  - 10.1136/jnnp.64.3.349
DP  - 1998 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
PG  - 349--352
VI  - 64
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/64/3/349.short
4100  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/64/3/349.full
SO  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry1998 Mar 01; 64
AB  - OBJECTIVES To study the circumstances of death in sudden death in epilepsy. METHODS Self referred bereaved relatives of patients with epilepsy who had died suddenly were interviewed with information obtained substantiated through other sources—namely, coroners’ officers’ reports, postmortem reports, previous medical records, and EEG reports. RESULTS Of 34 cases, 26 were classified as sudden unexpected deaths in epilepsy (SUDEP). Twenty four of 26 cases of SUDEP were unwitnessed. Evidence indicative or suggestive of a seizure was found in most. In 11 of 26 the position of the head was such that breathing could have been compromised. Cases included both localisation related and idiopathic primary generalised epilepsy. Only three were in remission at the time of death. Most relatives expressed the view that they would have preferred to have known that epilepsy could be fatal. CONCLUSIONS Although the deaths in question were largely unwitnessed, the available evidence suggested that most cases of SUDEP represented ictal or postictal seizure deaths, occurring in people with a history of generalised tonic clonic seizures, and in both primary generalised and localisation related epilepsy. These interviews highlight the needs of bereaved relatives and their sense of isolation in the face of an entirely unexpected and apparently unexplained loss.