Conference Coverage

SUDEP risk may change over time


 

REPORTING FROM AES 2018

– Risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) may change over time and yearly patient risk assessments are advisable, based on study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society.

Based on 3 years of data collected from over 12,000 people with epilepsy, 27.0% who had been at high risk (three or more generalized tonic-clonic seizures [GTCs] per year) at baseline moved out of the high-risk category. In addition, 32.5% at medium risk (one to two GTCs per year) at baseline changed categories. Finally, 7.0% in the low-risk category (no GTC seizures in the last year) at baseline moved to a higher-risk category.

“An individual’s risk [of SUDEP] is not set in stone,” said Neishay Ayub, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, who presented the data at the meeting. “Our findings support the recommendation that for people with epilepsy who have ongoing generalized tonic-clonic seizures, the goal of treatment is to reduce GTCs and thereby lower SUDEP risk.”

A 2017 practice guideline summary from the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society identified the presence and frequency of GTCs and absence of seizure freedom as risk factors for SUDEP. Using these measures, Dr. Ayub and colleagues sought to stratify patients according to their risk of SUDEP and monitor how risk changed over time. They collected information about more than 1.4 million seizures that occurred from December 2007 to February 2018 in 12,402 users of the electronic diary Seizure Tracker.

For each user, the researchers calculated the number of generalized seizures for each year since the initial seizure diary entry. They categorized each user as being at low, medium, or high risk of SUDEP during each year. Low risk was defined as no generalized seizures in a year. Medium risk was defined as one or two generalized seizures in a year. High risk was defined as three or more generalized seizures in a year.

“The next step would be to see if we can confirm this patient-reported data with an objective study to determine when seizures did or did not occur,” said Daniel Goldenholz, MD, PhD, also of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and senior author of the study. “For example, assessing information using new FDA [Food and Drug Administration]-approved wearable seizure tracker devices could give us a more comprehensive picture.”

The study was funded by the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.

SOURCE: Ayub N et al. AES 2018, Abstract 2.158.

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