Audit of practice in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) post mortems and neuropathological findings

Aims Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is one of the leading causes of death in people with epilepsy. For classification of definite SUDEP, a post mortem (PM), including anatomical and toxicological examination, is mandatory to exclude other causes of death. We audited PM practice as well...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropathology and applied neurobiology 2016-08, Vol.42 (5), p.463-476
Main Authors: Thom, Maria, Michalak, Zuzanna, Wright, Gabriella, Dawson, Timothy, Hilton, David, Joshi, Abhijit, Diehl, Beate, Koepp, Matthias, Lhatoo, Samden, Sander, Josemir W., Sisodiya, Sanjay M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
audit
Autopsy - methods
Autopsy - standards
Brain
Child
Child, Preschool
Convulsions & seizures
Death, Sudden - pathology
Epilepsy
Epilepsy - mortality
Epilepsy - pathology
Female
Humans
Male
Medical Audit
Middle Aged
Neuropathology
Neuropathology - methods
Neuropathology - standards
Original
post mortem
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy
SUDEP
United Kingdom
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aims Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is one of the leading causes of death in people with epilepsy. For classification of definite SUDEP, a post mortem (PM), including anatomical and toxicological examination, is mandatory to exclude other causes of death. We audited PM practice as well as the value of brain examination in SUDEP. Methods We reviewed 145 PM reports in SUDEP cases from four UK neuropathology centres. Data were extracted for clinical epilepsy details, circumstances of death and neuropathological findings. Results Macroscopic brain abnormalities were identified in 52% of cases. Mild brain swelling was present in 28%, and microscopic pathologies relevant to cause or effect of seizures were seen in 89%. Examination based on whole fixed brains (76.6% of all PMs), and systematic regional sampling was associated with higher detection rates of underlying pathology (P 
ISSN:0305-1846
1365-2990
DOI:10.1111/nan.12265