Table 1.
Demographical and clinical characteristics of the study population [modified from Ref. (25)].
| Characteristic |
SUDEP cases (n=30) |
Living epilepsy controls (n=58) |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age—yr, median [IQR] | 34 [24, 40] | 34 [25, 40] | 1.0 |
| Male gender, n (%) | 16 (53.3%) | 29 (50%) | 0.176 |
| Race, n (%) | 0.447 | ||
| White | 25 (83.3%) | 43 (74.1%) | |
| Black/African American | 3 (10%) | 6 (10.3%) | |
| Asian | 1 (3.3%) | 3 (5.2%) | |
| Other | 1 (3.3%) | 4 (6.9%) | |
| Unknown | 0 (0%) | 2 (3.4%) | |
| Epilepsy classification, n (%) | 0.527 | ||
| Focal | 25 (83.3%) | 48 (82.8%) | |
| Generalized | 4 (13.3%) | 9 (15.5%) | |
| Combined focal and generalized | 1 (3.3%) | 1 (1.7%) | |
| Unknown | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Etiology, n (%) | 0.583 | ||
| Structural/Metabolic | 15 (50%) | 24 (41.4%) | |
| Genetic/Presumed Genetic | 3 (10%) | 8 (13.8%) | |
| Unknown | 12 (40%) | 26 (44.8%) | |
| Antiseizure medications on admission, n (%) | 0.847 | ||
| None | 0 (0%) | 2 (3.4%) | |
| Monotherapy | 4 (13.3%) | 11 (19%) | |
| Polytherapy (≥2) | 26 (86.7%) | 45 (77.6%) | |
| Age of onset ‡–yr, median [IQR] | 10 [2, 16] | 12 [3, 21] | 0.571¶ |
| Disease duration—yr, median [IQR] | 17 [12, 33] | 14 [5, 29] | 0.083¶ |
| EMU to SUDEP time—yr, median [IQR] | 2 [4, 6] | n/a | n/a |
| Lifetime tonic-clonic seizure (TCS) frequency§, n (%) | |||
| None | 3 (10%) | 15 (25.9%) | 0.231* |
| ≥1, but <6 | 3 (10%) | 15 (25.9%) | 0.231* |
| ≥6, but <50 | 5 (16.7%) | 5 (8.6%) | 0.273* |
| ≥50 | 7 (23.3%) | 2 (3.4%) | 0.016* |
| Unknown | 12 (40%) | 21 (36.2%) | n/a |
| Outcome of surgical intervention, n (%) | |||
| Engel I | 1 (3.3%) | 8 (13.8%) | 0.264* |
| Engel II | 1 (3.3%) | 5 (8.6%) | 0.624* |
| Engel III | 3 (10%) | 2 (3.4%) | 0.566* |
| Engel IV | 3 (10%) | 1 (1.7%) | 0.324* |
| Unknown | 4 (13.3%) | 1 (1.7%) | n/a |
| Cardiovascular disease, n (%) | |||
| Hypertension | 3 (10%) | 4 (6.9%) | 0.696 |
| Cardiac arrhythmia | 1 (3.3%) | 0 (0%) | 0.356 |
| Structural heart disease | 3 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 0.042 |
| Sleep apnea | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.7%) | 1.0 |
| Psychiatric comorbidity, n (%) | |||
| Anxiety disorder | 0 (0%) | 7 (12.1%) | 0.047 |
| Depression | 2 (6.7%) | 16 (27.6%) | 0.015 |
| Medication for psychiatric disorder, n (%) | |||
| Antipsychotic | 3 (10%) | 2 (3.4%) | 0.343 |
IQR, interquartile range; EMU, epilepsy monitoring unit.
‡
Age of onset unknown in two (3.4%) epilepsy controls.
¶
P-value calculated with a two-sample Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
§
Includes both focal-to-bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (TCSs) and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs).
*
Statistical significance corrected p-value following Holm-Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. Bold font indicates statistical significance (p < 0.05).