Though it is one of the most common causes of death in epilepsy patients, SUDEP is still infrequently and even reluctantly named on autopsy reports. This under-reporting equates to a lack of attention and earnest investigation into the cause, predisposition, and prevention of SUDEP. There is as yet little effort to establish an actionable strategy in the mitigation of these potentially fatal arrhythmias.
Expanding on the 1990 book Epilepsy and Sudden Death, edited by Lathers and Schraeder, Sudden Death in Epilepsy: Forensic and Clinical Issues reviews of the basic science of epilepsy as it relates to SUDEP. Clinical chapters study the sophisticated simultaneous ambulatory EKG and EEG telemetry and respiratory function monitoring of patients at risk for sudden death that will help identify cardiac, respiratory, and epileptogenic interactions involved. Chapters on animal models evaluate new data from studies that build on previously used models and emphasize that multiple models are needed to investigate the pathophysiology of SUDEP, to hypothesize about effective treatments, to develop pilot studies in persons with epilepsy, and to conduct confirmatory large-scale clinical trials.
Contributions discuss the interaction between the central and peripheral autonomic nervous systems and the cardiopulmonary systems; proposed mechanistic factors in SUDEP; risk categories of arrhythmogenic, respiratory, and hypoxia related cardiac death; psychological, emotional, and stress related factors; the role of alcohol and drugs in seizures; and the potential mitigating properties of antiepileptic medication.
Adopting a global, multidisciplinary focus to address the mystery of SUDEP, this important work provides clinicians, researchers, patients, and families with the knowledge to freely discuss the phenomenon and thereby discover the preventive treatment regimens to decrease the occurrence of SUDEP.
Edited by:
Claire M. Lathers,
Paul L. Schraeder,
Michael Bungo,
Jan E. Leestma
Imprint: CRC Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 178mm,
Weight: 1.950kg
ISBN: 9781439802229
ISBN 10: 143980222X
Pages: 1047
Publication Date: 08 November 2010
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Forensics of Sudden Death. Neurocardiologic Mechanistic Risk Factors in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Forensic Considerations and Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: Guardian of the Brain–Heart Connection. Unanswered Questions: SUDEP Studies Needed. Medullary Serotonergic Abnormalities in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Implications in SUDEP. Forensic Case Identification. Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: Future Research Directions. Forensic Postmortem Examination of Victims of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. One-Year Postmortem Forensic Analysis of Deaths in Persons with Epilepsy. Drug Abuse and SUDEP. Cocaine-Induced Seizures, Arrhythmias, and Sudden Death. Risk Factors for Sudden Death in Epilepsy. EEG Findings in SUDEP. Severity of Seizures as a Forensic Risk and Case Reports. Intractable Epilepsy in the Setting of Malformations of Cortical Development as a Mechanism for SUDEP. Neurogenic Cardiac Arrhythmias. Stress and SUDEP. Genetics of Sudden Death in Epilepsy. Cardiac Channelopathies and Sudden Death. Sodium Channel Dysfunction Common Physiopathologic Mechanism Associated with Sudden Death ECG Abnormalities in Brugada Syndrome and Some Types of Epilepsy: Case Histories. Not Seizure but Syncope. Syncope, Seizures, and SUDEP: Case Histories. Sudden Death in Epilepsy: Relationship to the Sleep–Wake Circadian Cycle and Fractal Physiology. SUDEP: Medicolegal and Clinical Experiences. SUDEP Animal Models. MECHANISMS OF RISKS. Sudden Death: Animal Models to Study Nervous System Sites of Action for Disease and Pharmacological Intervention. Synaptic Plasticity of Autonomic Ganglia: Role of Chronic Stress and Implication in Cardiovascular Diseases and Sudden Death. Animal Model for Sudden Cardiac Death: Autonomic Cardiac Sympathetic Nonuniform Neural Discharge. Animal Model for Sudden Unexpected Death in Persons with Epilepsy. A Characterization of the Lockstep Phenomenon in Phenobarbital-Pretreated Cats. Relationship of the Lockstep Phenomenon and Precipitous Changes in Blood Pressure. Interspike Interval Histogram Characterization of Synchronized Cardiac Sympathetic Neural Discharge and Epileptogenic Activity in the Electrocorticogram of the Cat. Power Spectral Analysis: A Procedure for Assessing Autonomic Activity Related to Risk Factors for Sudden and Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. Animal Model for Sudden Cardiac Death: Sympathetic Innervation and Myocardial Beta-Receptor Densities. Antiepileptic Activity of Beta-Blocking Agents. Arrhythmias Associated with Epileptogenic Activity Elicited by Penicillin. Role of Neuropeptides in the Production of Epileptogenic Activity and Arrhythmias. Sudden Epileptic Death in Experimental Animal Models. Sympathetic Nervous System Dysregulation of Cardiac Function and Myocyte Potassium Channel Remodeling in Rodent Seizure Models: Candidate Mechanisms for SUDEP. The Urethane/Kainate Seizure Model as a Tool to Explore Physiology and Death Associated with Seizures. Acute Cardiovascular Response during Kindled Seizures. DBA Mice as Models of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Clinical Issues of Sudden Death. Cardiac and Pulmonary Risk Factors and Pathomechanisms of Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy Patients. Neurocardiac Interactions in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: Can Ambulatory Electrocardiogram-Based Assessment of Autonomic Function and T-Wave Alternans Help to Evaluate Risk? Arrhythmogenic, Respiratory, and Psychological Risk Factors for Sudden Unexpected Death and Epilepsy: Case Histories. Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome: Underlying Cardiac Etiologies, Their Implications, and the Overlap with SUDEP. Odds Ratios Study of Antiepileptic Drugs: A Possible Approach to SUD EP Prevention? Antiepileptic Drugs Benefit/Risk Clinical Pharmacology: Possible Role in Cause and/or Prevention of SUDEP. Clinical Pharmacology and SUDEP. Experience-Based Teaching of Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology of Antiepileptic Drugs: Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy: Do Antiepileptic Drugs Have a Role? Clinical Pharmacology of Antiepileptic Drug Use: Clinical Pearls about the Perils of Patty. Compliance with Antiepileptic Drug Treatment and the Risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. SUDEP Clinical Case Histories: Typical and Atypical. Cardiac Antiarrhythmic Agents: Pharmacological Basis for their Antiarrhythmic and Proarrhythmic Effects. Could Beta–Blocker Antiarrhythmic and Antiseizure Activity Help Prevent SUD EP? Decision Analysis and Risk Management. Epilepsy Surgery and the Prevention of SUDEP. Challenges in Overcoming Ethical, Legal, and Communication Barriers in SUDEP. Bereavement and Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. SUDEP: A Clinical and Communicative Conundrum. Epilepsy and SUD EP: Lessons Learned: Scientific and Clinical Experience. SUDEP: A Mystery Yet to Be Solved. Forensic Evidence and Expert Witnesses: Scientific Evidence: Getting It In and Keeping It Out. Index
Claire M. Lathers, Paul L. Schraeder, Michael Bungo, Jan E. Leestma
Reviews for Sudden Death in Epilepsy: Forensic and Clinical Issues
Lathers and colleagues have produced a colossal and astonishingly comprehensive tome on a little-appreciated subject: sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP). All physicians who have treated patients with severe epilepsy have experienced the anguish of losing a young patient to this ill-defined syndrome. This book addresses all the issues--from the clinical to the basic, from the forensic to the bereavement. Every physician who treats epilepsy will do well to draw from the extraordinary compilation of data and expertise in this volume. --Roger J. Porter, MD, ScD, Adjunct Professor of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology, USUHS, Bethesda The book is a skilled amalgam of neuroscience, cardiology, and pharmacology, along with numerous illustrative case examples, and it will become much thumbed-through as it takes a place of prominence on this forensic pathologist's bookshelf. --Gregory J. Davis, MD, FCAP, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, State Medical Examiner, Kentucky, in Et Cetera.
