Sudden death and epilepsy.

The diagnosis of epilepsy carries an excess mortality risk which is highest during the first 10 years following diagnosis, particularly during the first 2 year& 2. Some of this may be related to suicide37 4 or accident5-7. Convulsive status epilepticus as a cause of death in people with a diagnosis of epilepsy seems to be a relatively rare phenomenon from childhood until middle adult life, although it may have a less favourable outcome in the elderly’. After these causes are taken into account, there remains a number of cases of people who die suddenly, from apparently unknown causes, when in otherwise good health apart from their epilepsy. This is the phenomenon of sudden unexpected death (SUD).