Characteristics of deceased subjects transported to a postmortem imaging center due to unusual death related to epilepsy.
Yoshiki ItoNobuhiro HataSatoshi MaesawaTakafumi TaneiTomotaka IshizakiManabu MutohMiki HashidaYutaka KobayashiRyuta SaitoPublished in: Epilepsia open (2024)
This study investigated unusual deaths in epilepsy patients, analyzing 5291 postmortem imaging cases. The results showed that 132 cases (2.6%) had a clear history of epilepsy. In these cases, only 22% cases were explained after postmortem examination, which is less than in non-epilepsy group (42.2%). Cerebrovascular disease was less common in the epilepsy group, while drowning was more common. Elevated troponin T levels, which suggest possibility of myocardial damage or long intervals between death and examination, were also more frequent in the epilepsy group compared to non-epilepsy group.