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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 increasing attention and been recognized as more widespread than previously believed. Despite the recent increase in awareness, “systematic well funded research remains limited. The 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 patients and families.

A massive literature on SUDEP and closely related phenomena exists, with many studies having considerable overlap. Many isolated case reports have been published, and considering them collectively increases their informative power. To facilitate comparison of related articles, annotations are provided for most entries in this bibliography, and these are hyperlinked 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 “much repetition,” it is hoped that this ‘active document’ approach will permit readers to navigate 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 (organized by author)

A

• 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
• Almansori M, Ijaz M, and Ahmed SN (2006): Cerebral arrhythmia influencing cardiac rhythm: A case of ictal bradycardia
• Altenmüller DM, Zehender M, and Schulze-Bonhage A (2004): High-grade atrioventricular block triggered by spontaneous and stimulation-induced epileptic activity in the left temporal lobe
• Anand BK and Dua S (1956): Circulatory and respiratory changes induced by electrical stimulation of limbic system (visceral brain)
• Annegers JF and Coan SP (1999): SUDEP: Overview of definitions and review of incidence data
• Annegers JF, Coan SP, Hauser WA, Leestma J, Duffell W, and Tarver B (1998): Epilepsy, vagal nerve stimulation by the NCP system, mortality, and sudden, unexpected, unexplained death
• Annegers JF, Coan SP, Hauser WA, and Leestma J (2000): Epilepsy, vagal nerve stimulation by the NCP system, all-cause mortality, and sudden, unexpected, unexplained death
• Antoniuk SA, Oliva LV, Bruck I, Malucelli M, Yabumoto S, and Castellano JL (2001): Sudden unexpected, unexplained death in epilepsy autopsied patients
• Arida RM, Scorza CA, Schmidt B, de Albuquerque M, Cavalheiro EA, and Scorza FA (2008): Physical activity in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: Much more than a simple sport
• Asadi-Pooya AA and Sperling MR (2009): Clinical features of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy
• Aserinsky E (1965): Periodic respiratory pattern occurring in conjunction with eye movements during sleep
• Aurlien D, Taubøll E, and Gjerstad L (2007): Lamotrigine in idiopathic epilepsy – Increased risk of cardiac death?
• Aurlien D, Tauböll E, and Gjerstad L (2008): An insufficient effect of lamotrigine leading to fatal seizures
• Aurlien D, Leren TP, Taubøll E, and Gjerstad L (2009): New SCN5A mutation in a SUDEP victim with idiopathic epilepsy

B

• Bacon GM (1868): On the modes of death in epilepsy
• Bateman LM, Li CS, and Seyal M (2008): Ictal hypoxemia in localization-related epilepsy: Analysis of incidence, severity and risk factors
• Bateman LM, Spitz M, and Seyal M (2010): Ictal hypoventilation contributes to cardiac arrhythmia and sudep: Report on two deaths in video-eeg-monitored patients
• Bell GS and Sander JW (2006): Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Risk factors, possible 225 mechanisms and prevention: A reappraisal
• Bell GS, Peacock JL, and Sander JW (2009): Seasonality as a risk factor for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: A study in a large cohort
• Benassi E, Bo GP, Cocito L, Maffini M, and Loeb C (1987): Carbamazepine and cardiac conduction disturbances
• Bennani FK and Connolly CE (1997): Sudden unexpected death in young adults including four cases of SADS: A 10-year review from the west of Ireland
• Beran RG, Weber S, Sungaran R, Venn N, and Hung A (2004): Review of the legal obligations of the doctor to discuss Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) – A cohort controlled comparative cross-matched study in an outpatient epilepsy clinic
• Berg A (2001): Mortality in epilepsy
• Bergfeldt L, Vallin H, Rosenqvist M, Insulander P, Nordlander R, and Aström H (1996): Sinus node recovery time assessment revisited: Role of pharmacologic blockade of the autonomic nervous system
• Bird J, Dembny K, Sandeman D, and Butler S(1995): Sudden unexplained death explained?
• Bird J, Dembny K, Sandeman D, and Butler S(1997): Sudden unexplained death in epilepsy: An intracranially monitored case
• Black A (2005): SUDEP – Whether to tell and when
• Blum AS, Ives JR, Goldberger AL, Al-Aweel IC, Krishnamurthy KB, Drislane FW, and Schomer DL (2000): Oxygen desaturations triggered by partial seizures: Implications for cardiopulmonary instability in epilepsy
• Blumhardt LD, Smith PE, and Owen L (1986): Electrocardiographic accompaniments of temporal lobe epileptic seizures
• Bowerman DL, Levisky JA, Urich RW, and Wittenberg PH (1978): Premature deaths in persons with seizure disorders – Subtherapeutic levels of anticonvulsant drugs in postmortem blood specimens
• Bowers RE, McKeen CR, Park BE, and Brigham KL (1979): Increased pulmonary vascular permeability follows intracranial hypertension in sheep
• Breckenridge CG and Hoff HE (1953): Ischemic and anoxic dissolution of the supramedullary control of respiration
• Britton J, Ghearing G, Benarroch E, and Cascino G(2006): The ictal bradycardia syndrome: Localization and lateralization
• Brna P, Camfield P, Camfield C, Messenger M, and Finley J (2006): When are episodes of loss of consciousness life-threatening?
• Brodie MJ and Ben-Menachem E: Should patients or their families be told of the risk of Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy?
• Brodie MJ and Holmes GL (2008): Should all patients be told about sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)? Pros and Cons
• Brotherstone R, Blackhall B, and McLellan A (2009): Lengthening of corrected QT during epileptic seizures
• Brown SW, Mawer GE, Lawler W, Taylor DC, Shorvon S, Betts TA, Noronha MJ, Richens A, Chadwick D, and Besag FM (1990): Sudden death and epilepsy

C

• Callanan C(2008): Death in the shadows
• Camfield CS, Camfield PR, and Veugelers PJ (2002): Death in children with epilepsy: A population-based study
• Camfield P and Camfield C (2005): Sudden unexpected death in people with epilepsy: A pediatric perspective
• Carinci V, Barbato G, Baldrati A, and Di Pasquale G (2007): Asystole induced by partial seizures: A rare cause of syncope
• Carlson C, Arnedo V, Cahill M, and Devinsky O (2009): Detecting nocturnal convulsions: Efficacy of the MP5 monitor
• Carnel SB, Schraeder PL, and Lathers CM (1985): Effect of phenobarbital pretreatment on cardiac neural discharge and pentylenetetrazol-induced epileptogenic activity in the cat
• Chapman WP, Livingston KE, and Poppen JL (1950): An observation of the effect of the electrical stimulation of the temporal lobes on blood pressure in man
• Chapman WP, Livingston KE, and Poppen JL (1950): Effect upon blood pressure of electrical stimulation of tips of temporal lobes in man
• Chapman WP, Schroeder HR, Geyer G, Brazier MA, Fager C, Poppen JL, Solomon HC, and Yakolev PI (1954): Physiological evidence concerning importance of the amygdaloid nuclear region in the integration of circulatory function and emotion in man
• Chapman WP, Solomon HC, Schroeder HR, Brazier MA, Geyer G, Fager C, Poppen J, and Yakolev P(1956): Present status of the relationship of brain structures to the circulation and emotional expression in man
• Chiron C, Marchand MC, Tran A, Rey E, d’Athis P, Vincent J, Dulac O, and Pons G (2000): Stiripentol in severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy: a randomised placebo-controlled syndrome-dedicated trial. STICLO study group
• Cho I, Kai M, Ichikado K, Naitoh M, Sakata T, and Suga M (2002): A case of neurogenic pulmonary edema associated with epileptic seizure
• Chungath M and Shorvon S (2008): The mortality and morbidity of febrile seizures
• Cockerell OC, Johnson AL, Sander JW, Hart YM, Goodridge DM, and Shorvon SD (1994): Mortality from epilepsy: Results from a prospective population-based study
• Cohen MI (1971): Switching of the respiratory phases and evoked phrenic responses produced by rostral pontine electrical stimulation
• Cohen MI (1981): Pulmonary afferent and central influences on respiratory phase-switching in the cat
• Cohen-Gadol AA, DiLuna ML, and Spencer DD (2004): Partial epilepsy presenting as episodic dyspnea: A specific network involved in limbic seizure propagation
• Colder BW, Frysinger RC, Wilson CL, Harper RM, and Engel J J (1996): Decreased neuronal burst discharge near site of seizure onset in epileptic human temporal lobes
• Colder BW, Wilson CL, Frysinger RC, Chao LC, Harper RM, and Engel J J (1996): Neuronal synchrony in relation to burst discharge in epileptic human temporal lobes
• Colder BW, Wilson CL, Frysinger RC, Harper RM, and Engel J J (1996): Interspike intervals during interictal periods in human temporal lobe epilepsy