Type, Etiology, and Duration of Epilepsy as Risk Factors for SUDEP: Further Analyses of a Population-Based Case-Control Study.

While certain etiologies such as post-traumatic epilepsy seem to entail a higher SUDEP risk, our data indicate that frequent and nocturnal TCS carry a similar level of risk whether focal or generalized from onset. The tonic-clonic part of the seizure appears to be decisive for the fatal outcome. SUDEP risk associated with TCS is highest during the first years after the epilepsy diagnosis which calls for effective TCS treatment and vigilance from the onset of diagnosis.