While the mechanisms underlying SUDEP are still poorly understood, it is possibly the most common cause of death as a result of complications from epilepsy, accounting for between 7.5 and 17% of all epilepsy-related deaths[2] and 50% of all deaths in refractory epilepsy.[4][5] The causes of SUDEP seem to be multifactorial[2] and include respiratory, cardiac, and cerebral factors as well as the severity of epilepsy and seizures.[5] Proposed pathophysiological mechanisms include seizure-induced cardiac and respiratory arrests.[4]
Among epileptics, SUDEP occurs in about 1 in 1,000 adults and 1 in 4,500 children annually.[6] Rates of death as a result of prolonged seizures (status epilepticus) are not classified as SUDEP.[7]
^ abcTerra, VC; Cysneiros, R; Cavalheiro, EA; Scorza, FA (Mar 2013). "Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: from the lab to the clinic setting". Epilepsy & Behavior. 26 (3): 415–20. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2012.12.018. PMID23402930. S2CID3777598.
^ abDevinsky, Orrin (10 November 2011). "Sudden, Unexpected Death in Epilepsy". New England Journal of Medicine. 365 (19): 1801–1811. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1010481. PMID22070477.