title: Mortality in captive baboons with seizures: a new model for SUDEP?
abstract: Because the baboon is a model of primary generalized epilepsy, we were interested in mortality of captive animals with a history of witnessed seizures. Causes of natural death were investigated in 46 seizure baboons (SZ) and 78 nonepileptic controls (CTL), all of which underwent a complete pathologic examination at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) in San Antonio. SZ animals died at a younger age than the control baboons (p < 0.001). Almost all epileptic baboons that died suddenly without an apparent cause (SZ-UKN), had pulmonary congestion or edema without evidence of trauma, systemic illness, or heart disease, compared to nine controls (12%) (p < 0.001), most of which demonstrated evidence of a concurrent illness. Serosanguineous bronchial secretions were found in 15 SZ-UKN baboons (58%), but in only three controls (4%) (p < 0.001). Chronic multifocal fibrotic changes in myocardium were noted in only three (12%) of SZ-UKN baboons and one control baboon. Based upon these results, untreated seizures appear to reduce the life expectancy of captive baboons. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) may be a common cause of natural death in epileptic baboons.
authors.affiliation: South Texas Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229-7883, USA. szabo@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: C Akos
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: Koyle D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Knape
authors.forename: M Michelle
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Leland
authors.forename: Jake
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: Karin J M
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.forename: Gene B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: Jeff T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D003645:Death, Sudden; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D010215:Papio / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors