LAUSR

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) was originally defined as a sudden, unexpected death in an individual with epilepsy, witnessed or not, and not associated with drowning or status epilepticus, for which a cause cannot be identified upon autopsy examination.1 Cases can be divided into definite, probable, and possible based upon the level of diagnostic certainty, especially after postmortem examination.2 As research criteria have evolved, a more comprehensive set of diagnostic criteria has been derived, including the term plus to indicate that another cause could have resulted in death, e.g., SUDEP probable/plus.3 During the last 20 years, SUDEP has become recognized as an important cause of premature mortality in the epilepsy population and is second only to stroke as the most common neurologic disorder responsible for the most potential years of life lost due its occurrence prior to late adulthood.4