title: SUDEP, suspected positional airway obstruction, and hypoventilation in postictal coma.
abstract: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of mortality in patients with chronic uncontrolled epilepsy. Despite intense interest in SUDEP from the medical and scientific communities in recent years, its etiologies are still largely unresolved. A 35-year-old woman had SUDEP after having a generalized seizure in the prone position. The cause of her death was likely asphyxia from the convergence of postictal coma and suspected positional airway obstruction and hypoventilation, rather than the commonly suspected periictal cardiac arrhythmia or central apnea. SUDEP may share a similar etiology with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and is likely preventable, at least in a proportion of cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Adult Epilepsy Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. jtao@neurology.bsd.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: James X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: Xiang-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Susan-Hawes
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ebersole
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ebersole
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D003128:Coma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007040:Hypoventilation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D016684:Prone Position; D012307:Risk Factors; D014741:Video Recording