Objectives-To examine the risk factors and their relative importance and possible role in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Methods-The study was conducted as a retrospective analysis of deaths in an outpatient population of a tertiary referral centre, based on clinical and pathological data. Results-Of a total of 140 deaths, 61 (44%) had not been to postmortem and were excluded, 37 (26%) had a verified cause of death and formed the non-SUDEP group, and 42 (30%) were classified as SUDEP. In the SUDEP group there was pulmonary oedema in 62%, signs of preceding seizures in 67%, no visible seizures in three of six observed deaths. A high seizure frequency prevailed in SUDEP as well as non-SUDEP. Sixty per cent of deaths were sleep related. Various other circumstances were temporally associated with death. The prone position at death was seen in 71% of the SUDEP patients; possible interpretations are discussed. Supposedly subtherapeutic serum concentrations of one or more antiepileptic drugs were found in 57% of those with reported serum concentrations. Alcohol was not a factor in the material, whereas hyponatraemia was seen in two cases. Conclusions-Most cases of SUDEP are preceded by seizures; their presence, frequency, type, aetiology, tractability, and the use of antiepileptic drugs are factors in the demise. No common risk factor, present in all cases of SUDEP, could be found, suggesting the probability of multiple mechanisms behind SUDEP. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1999;67:439-444)

We examined the effect of acupuncture on epileptic seizures in humans in a controlled clinical setting. Treatment was administered by two Chinese professors of acupuncture. Effect was measured by change in seizure frequency. Twenty-nine patients with chronic intractable epilepsy completed the study. They were randomized in two groups; 15 were given classical acupuncture and 14 were given sham acupuncture. There was a reduction in seizure frequency in both groups, which did not reach a level of statistical significance. There was also an increase in the number of seizure-free weeks in both groups, which reached a level of significance in the sham group. Thus, we have not been able to prove a beneficial effect of acupuncture in chronic intractable epilepsy.

We report two cases with complex partial and secondarily generalized seizures, both on oxcarbazepine and vigabatrin, with additional lamotrigine in one case. Both died in a manner resembling SUDEP, i.e. suddenly, unexpectedly, probably following a seizure with pulmonary oedema at autopsy. Both had SIADH. A number of drugs may cause SIADH, among them carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine. A search for SIADH in patients on carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, and in cases of sudden death in epilepsy, is recommended.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect on health-related quality of life of acupuncture and sham acupuncture as adjunctive treatment in intractable epilepsy. We performed a randomized controlled trail with two parallel treatment arms at The National Center for Epilepsy in Norway, a comprehensive epilepsy center. Thirty-four patients with long-standing drug resistant epilepsy completed the study. The intervention consisted of 20 acupuncture treatments (bilateral needling of three acupoints plus one or two individually chosen points) or sham acupuncture (bilateral needling with smaller needles of three points outside the traditional meridians) over 8 weeks. The main outcome measures were changes in mean health-related quality of life scores for the two groups after 8 weeks, using the 89-item Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-89) questionnaire. We found no difference between the acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups in score changes in any dimension of the QOLIE-89 questionnaire, despite testing a large number of dimensions. We also found no change in QOLIE-89 scores between baseline and 8 weeks in either groups. In conclusion, we could not demonstrate a significant effect of traditional acupuncture or sham acupuncture on the health-related quality of life of patients with intractable epilepsy.

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