Welcome

An increased risk of sudden death has been reported in patients with epilepsy since the late 1800s, and possibly much earlier (DeToledo et al., 1999; Doherty, 2004). In the past two decades sudden unexpected (or unexplained) death in epilepsy (SUDEP) has received increas- ing attention and been recognized as more widespread than previously believed. Despite the 5 recent increase in awareness, “systematic well funded research remains limited. e medical literature contains much repetition, with effort spent on re-analysing data with substantial methodological limitations,” (Tomson et al., 2008). In addition to the need for better clinical and basic science studies, and improved epidemiological data, there is also a need for increased cognizance and understanding of SUDEP among neurologists and other physicians as well as 10 patients and families. A massive literature on SUDEP and closely related phenomena exists, with many studies hav- ing considerable overlap. Many isolated case reports have been published, and considering them collectively increases their informative power. To facilitate comparison of related arti- cles, annotations are provided for most entries in this bibliography, and these are hyperlinked 15 where applicable to other articles’ in the hope of permitting a more efficient synthesis of the literature. To further promote direct consultation of the primary literature, references are hyperlinked to their digital object identifier when available, permitting an interested reader one-click access to the original publication. An index is provided, and its entries link back to the site of their appearance in the bibliography. Because the SUDEP literature contains 20 “much repetition,” it is hoped that this ‘active document’ approach will permit readers to nav- igate through relevant publications more efficiently, with the ultimate aim of improved patient care and better mechanistic understanding of the process, both of which have the potential to reduce SUDEP deaths.

Articles

• Ackerman, MJ (2005): Cardiac causes of sudden unexpected death in children and their relationship to seizures and syncope: Genetic testing for cardiac electropathies
• Adams, R (1827): Cases of diseases of the heart accompanied with pathological observations
• Akalin F, Tirtir A, and Yilmaz Y (2003): Increased QT dispersion in epileptic children
• Al-Aweel IC, Krishnamurthy KB, Hausdorff JM, Mietus JE, Ives JR, Blum AS, Schomer DL, and Goldberger AL (1999): Postictal heart rate oscillations in partial epilepsy