Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Institute of Neurology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Neurosciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Epilepsy Behav. 2017 Nov;76:76-83. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2017.08.024. Epub 2017 Sep 27.
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is associated with the high premature mortality observed among people with epilepsy. It is, however, considered a rare event in China, probably because of lack of awareness and limitation of studies in the country. We aimed to provide some initial estimation of the burden of SUDEP in China.
We established a large Chinese community-based cohort of people with epilepsy between January 2010 and December 2011. For any participant who died during follow-up, detailed information on cause of death was obtained using a specifically designed Verbal Autopsy Questionnaire. All cases were reviewed by a multidisciplinary expert panel and reinvestigated if necessary. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy incidence rates were estimated and case details provided.
The cohort consisted of 1562 people and during a median 5years follow-up, 72 deaths were reported. The all-causes death incidence was 11.23 (95% CI 8.86-14.07) per 1000 person-years. Fifteen died suddenly and unexpectedly in a reasonable state of health in the week preceding death. We recorded detailed information of these 15 deaths. Thirteen were considered to be probable SUDEP and two possible SUDEP. The incidence of probable SUDEP was 2.03 (95% CI 1.13-3.38) per 1000 person-years, and the incidence of all suspected (probable and possible) SUDEP was 2.34 (95% CI 1.36-3.77) per 1000 person-years.
The incidence of SUDEP was relatively high among Chinese people with epilepsy when compared with that in previous community-based studies from high-income countries. The burden of SUDEP in China requires further assessments.
癫痫相关性猝死（SUDEP）与癫痫患者的过早死亡率高有关。然而，在中国，SUDEP 被认为是一种罕见事件，这可能是由于缺乏认识以及该国研究的局限性所致。我们旨在提供中国 SUDEP 负担的初步估计。
我们于 2010 年 1 月至 2011 年 12 月期间建立了一个大型中国社区癫痫患者队列。对于随访期间任何死亡的参与者，使用专门设计的言语尸检问卷获得了死因的详细信息。所有病例均由多学科专家小组进行审查，如果有必要进行重新调查。估计了癫痫相关性猝死的发生率，并提供了病例详情。
该队列由 1562 人组成，在中位数为 5 年的随访期间，报告了 72 例死亡。全因死亡率为 11.23（95%置信区间 8.86-14.07）/1000 人年。15 人在死亡前一周健康状况合理的情况下突然意外死亡。我们记录了这 15 例死亡的详细信息。其中 13 例被认为是可能的 SUDEP，2 例可能是 SUDEP。可能的 SUDEP 的发生率为 2.03（95%置信区间 1.13-3.38）/1000 人年，所有疑似（可能和可能）SUDEP 的发生率为 2.34（95%置信区间 1.36-3.77）/1000 人年。
与高收入国家先前的基于社区的研究相比，中国癫痫患者的 SUDEP 发生率相对较高。中国的 SUDEP 负担需要进一步评估。
