Seizure-related deaths in children: The expanding spectrum.
Jenna HarowitzLaura CrandallDeclan McGuoneOrrin DevinskyPublished in: Epilepsia (2021)
Although seizures are common in children, they are often overlooked as a potential cause of death. Febrile and nonfebrile seizures can be fatal in children with or without an epilepsy diagnosis and may go unrecognized by parents or physicians. Sudden unexpected infant deaths, sudden unexplained death in childhood, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy share clinical, neuropathological, and genetic features, including male predominance, unwitnessed deaths, death during sleep, discovery in the prone position, hippocampal abnormalities, and variants in genes regulating cardiac and neuronal excitability. Additionally, epidemiological studies reveal that miscarriages are more common among individuals with a personal or family history of epilepsy, suggesting that some fetal losses may result from epileptic factors. The spectrum of seizure-related deaths in pediatrics is wide and underappreciated; accurately estimating this mortality and understanding its mechanism in children is critical to developing effective education and interventions to prevent these tragedies.
Keyphrases
- young adults
- temporal lobe epilepsy
- genome wide
- healthcare
- primary care
- small molecule
- heart failure
- copy number
- risk factors
- high throughput
- type diabetes
- cardiovascular disease
- gene expression
- brain injury
- quality improvement
- transcription factor
- blood brain barrier
- cerebral ischemia
- depressive symptoms
- sleep quality
- coronary artery disease
- risk assessment
- early life
- drug induced
- genome wide identification