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Background Ictal asystole is a rare phenomenon. Most reported cases are in persons with long-standing focal epilepsy originating from the temporal lobe. Its occurrence may complicate the clinical presentation or delay diagnosis, and it is thought to be associated with increased risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Case presentation We report the case of a 55-year-old female person with epilepsy who suffered ictal asystole for 10 s while under monitoring at the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. We then review briefly the pathophysiology and current management modalities for this phenomenon. Discussion The first step in management of this condition is usually the optimization of anti-seizure drugs. In our case, a 2-year fall-free period was achieved with optimization of medical treatment. Pacemaker implantation can also be attempted to prevent ictal asystole-related falls and injury, while refractory cases may benefit from epilepsy surgery in terms of both seizure control and prevention of ictal asystole.

Objective To determine cardiologist knowledge of and experience with seizure-related bradyarrhythmias and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Background Autonomic changes related to acute seizures are common and can occur during the ictal or postictal period. Two concerning changes in these periods are significant bradycardia and asystole. Postictal asystole has been investigated as a potential mechanism for SUDEP. Methods A 27-question survey delivered to cardiologists and cardiology fellows assessed demographics, personal experience, and training involving SUDEP and seizure-related bradycardia and asystole. Following IRB approval, a list of US cardiology fellowships was constructed using the AAMC public website. Surveys were distributed by email to all programs whose program director or coordinator’s email was readily available on their website. They were asked to forward the survey to both cardiology fellows and practicing cardiologists. Results Fifty one surveys were completed: 23 from fellows and 28 from practicing cardiologists. Forty nine were from academic centers. Twenty four respondents (47%) reported being consulted for ictal bradycardia or asystole. Nine and 13 recommended treatment for ictal bradycardia or ictal asystole, respectively. Nineteen respondents (37%) reported being consulted for postictal bradycardia or asystole. Eight recommended treatment for postictal bradycardia or asystole, respectively. Treatment recommendations included medical management and/or pacemaker. None reported a substantial knowledge of SUDEP. The most common response interrogating SUDEP awareness (63%) was “no knowledge of SUDEP”. Formal SUDEP education was not reported by any participant with only one reporting formal didactics regarding seizure-related arrhythmias. Discussion Our results suggest ictal bradyarrhythmias are less commonly known to cardiologists, with SUDEP awareness being far less. Formal education to cardiologists on these two topics could prove beneficial at the intersection of cardiology and care for patients with epilepsy.

Importance: Syncope is a common presentation to emergency departments, and cardiac and neurological aetiologies are the predominant causes. Ictal asystole is a rare cardio-neural phenomenon seen in epilepsy syndromes whereby a seizure causes asystole (≥3 s) leading to syncope. Observations: We present three cases of ictal asystole, together with a narrative review of the literature to assess the prevalence of the condition and review the pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. Our review of the literature has shown that ictal asystole is an unlikely contributor to sudden unexplained death with epilepsy (SUDEP). Pacemaker insertion may limit morbidity from trauma related to syncopal episodes but does not impact mortality. Conclusions and Relevance: Patients with ictal asystole should be diagnosed with concurrent electroencephalogram-electrocardiograph (EEG-ECG) monitoring, have their anti-epileptic drugs optimised and be considered for epilepsy surgery if feasible. The use of longer term ECG monitoring may be used as a diagnostic aid if ictal asystole is suspected. If there are ongoing syncopal episodes with associated ictal asystole ≥6 seconds, particularly despite medical therapy, a permanent pacemaker may be considered to reduce morbidity. Current guidelines should be updated to reflect the increasing knowledge of this condition.

Aim To determine the type and incidence of ictal bradyarrhythmias in patients with drug-resistant types of epilepsy by long-term electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring.Material and methods Subcutaneous ECG monitors programed for recording pauses >3 sec and episodes of bradycardia ≤45 bpm were implanted in 193 patients with persistent epileptic seizures without organic pathology of the myocardium. Recording was activated by the patient/family at the onset of epileptic seizure. The follow-up period was 36 months with visits to the clinic every three months.Results For 36 months of monitoring, 6494 ECG fragments were recorded. Ictal bradycardia was observed in 6.7 % of patients, including ictal asystole in 2.6 % of patients. Episodes of bradycardia and asystole during epileptic seizures were transient and developed significantly more frequently in men, patients with long duration of the disease, bilateral tonic-clonic or focal seizures with disorder of consciousness, during sleep, on the background of treatment with several antiepileptic agents, mostly from the group of potassium channel blockers.Conclusion Bradyarrhythmias accompanying epileptic seizures are transient and reproducible from seizure to seizure. They reflect functional changes in the myocardium and do not determine the life prediction for patients with epilepsy without organic pathology of the heart.

International audience; Significant cardio-respiratory fluctuations are often observed during and after an epileptic seizure event. The mechanisms underlying these acute modifications are considered to be involved in sudden and unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). We hypothesize that these acute events are mediated by specific dynamics of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, the evaluation of the ANS during seizures remains particularly challenging, mainly due to the lack of observability. Computational modelling could help to override these limitations, to assess ANS modulation and to evaluate this hypothesis. In this study, we propose and apply a recursive identification algorithm of a system-level model of the autonomic modulation of the sino-atrial node, integrating a Tikhonov regularization, in order to assess sympathetic and parasympathetic activities during ictal tachy-bradycardia events. We evaluate the feasibility of the method on heart rate (HR) data from 4 seizures observed in the same patient. After parameter optimization and identification we were able to reproduce observed HR data with a maximum root mean squared error equals to 1.7bpm. The estimated autonomic series show sympathetic activation and parasympathetic inhibition at the seizure onset, and a massive vagal discharge as the leading factor to ictal bradycardia. © 2020 Creative Commons; the authors hold their copyright.

INTRODUCTION: Heart rate decrease during epileptic seizures is rare and should be considered in patients with unusual or refractory episodes of syncope or in patients with a history suggestive of both epilepsy and syncope. We systematically reviewed the literature to better understand the clinical signs and risk factors of ictal heart rate decreases.MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a literature-search on "ictal bradycardia" and "ictal asystole" in Pubmed and added papers from the references and personal archives. Articles relating to animal studies, seizures without ictal decrease of heart rate, cases without simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG), convulsive syncopes, or cases with bradycardia before seizure onset and articles written in other languages than English, Dutch, German, French, or Spanish were excluded. Full texts of the remaining articles were screened for cases of ictal bradycardia or ictal asystole. Cases were selected on the basis of a self-designed quality score. The relationship of RR wave interval of at least 5 s, signs of syncope, and EEG signs of ischemia were analyzed with chi-square test and identifying 95% confidence intervals.RESULTS: Ictal bradycardia and ictal asystole predominantly occurred during focal seizures with loss of awareness (proportion in the combined group of bradycardia and asystole (p1 + 2) = 0.85) in people with mainly left lateralized (p1 + 2 = 0.64; p = 0.001) temporal lobe seizures (p1 + 2 = 0.91). Seizures with ictal asystole typically started with a heart rate decrease. During ictal asystole in the majority of cases, not only the clinical signs of syncope occurred (change of proportion (Δp) = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.48-0.86; p CONCLUSION: In the ictal bradycardia syndrome, signs of syncope disrupt the semiology of ongoing seizures and are associated with EEG signs of brain ischemia and the duration of the cardiac arrhythmia.

INTRODUCTION: Heart rate decrease during epileptic seizures is rare and should be considered in patients with unusual or refractory episodes of syncope or in patients with a history suggestive of both epilepsy and syncope. We systematically reviewed the literature to better understand the clinical signs and risk factors of ictal heart rate decreases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a literature-search on "ictal bradycardia" and "ictal asystole" in Pubmed and added papers from the references and personal archives. Articles relating to animal studies, seizures without ictal decrease of heart rate, cases without simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG), convulsive syncopes, or cases with bradycardia before seizure onset and articles written in other languages than English, Dutch, German, French, or Spanish were excluded. Full texts of the remaining articles were screened for cases of ictal bradycardia or ictal asystole. Cases were selected on the basis of a self-designed quality score. The relationship of RR wave interval of at least 5 s, signs of syncope, and EEG signs of ischemia were analyzed with chi-square test and identifying 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Ictal bradycardia and ictal asystole predominantly occurred during focal seizures with loss of awareness (proportion in the combined group of bradycardia and asystole (p1 + 2) = 0.85) in people with mainly left lateralized (p1 + 2 = 0.64; p = 0.001) temporal lobe seizures (p1 + 2 = 0.91). Seizures with ictal asystole typically started with a heart rate decrease. During ictal asystole in the majority of cases, not only the clinical signs of syncope occurred (change of proportion (Δp) = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.48-0.86; p

Background: Multiple cardiac changes and various abnor-malities have been linked to epileptic fits. The assessment of cardiac changes and serum biomarkers level are commonly accepted methods to evaluate autonomic disturbances during epileptic fits which is very closely associated with some cardiovascular events especially the sudden unexpected cardiac death.Aim of Study: To evaluate ictal and inter-ictal cardiac changes and plasma levels of heart type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) in pediatric patients with treatment resistant epilepsy.Patients and Methods: 32 seizure attacks were recorded in 23 children with intractable seizures. Simultaneous Holter-ECG and video-EEG recordings were done with evaluation of changes in Heart Rate (HR), parameters of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), as well as serum levels of H-FABP as a marker of myocardial ischemia in the ictal and inter-ictal periods and compared with a control group.Results: The recorded HR changes included Ictal Tachy-cardia (IT) (96.87%), Ictal Bradycardia (IB) (3.13%), Prema-ture Atrial Contractions (PAC) (18.75%) and Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVC) (28.13%) in the first post-ictal hour. Significant HR increase was observed in the pre-ictal hour and ictal values compared to basal values and remained high 2 hours post-ictally. Basal HR and serum levels of the H-FABP protein were significantly higher while time domain HRV parameters were significantly lower in the patients compared to controls.Conclusion: Significant cardiac changes may occur even before the seizure onset in cases with intractable epilepsy. The increased levels of H-FABP may indicate the presence of autonomic instability and myocardial ischemia even in asymptomatic patients.

Ictal syncope is a rare phenomenon that occurs in association with 0.002–0.4% of seizures. In the absence of other symptoms, seizures presenting with syncope may be challenging to diagnose. We report a case of a previously healthy male who developed recurrent episodes of syncope with postictal confusion and was later diagnosed with temporal seizures. The patient was successfully treated with anti-seizure drugs and placement of a cardiac pacemaker. In a systematic review of literature, we summarize the clinical characteristics of patients with ictal asystole and isolated syncope. Seizures should be considered in patients with syncope of uncertain etiology., Highlights • Focal seizures leading to bradycardia-asystole can be accompanied by sudden atonia with loss of consciousness • Ictal syncope as the only symptom of seizure represents an exceptionally rare phenomena that may mimic other paroxysmal neurological events • Patients with recurrent syncopal events of uncertain etiology should have seizures considered in the differential diagnosis

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) shows long-term efficiency worldwide in most pharmacoresistant patients with epilepsy; however, there are still a small number of patients who are non-responders to VNS therapy. It has been shown that VNS treatment outcomes for drug-resistant epilepsy may be predicted by preoperative heart-rate variability measurements and that patients with epilepsy with ictal tachycardia (IT) during seizures have good responses to VNS. However, few studies have reported the efficacy of VNS in patients with epilepsy with ictal bradycardia (IB) or normal heart rate (HR), and none have explored the possible mechanisms of VNS efficacy based on different HR types. HR during seizures varies, and we presume that different HRs during seizures may impact the effects of VNS. It has been shown that blood pressure in the human body needs to be maintained through the arterial baroreflex (ABR). VNS efficacy in patients with epilepsy with IT, IB, and normal HR during seizures may be related to ABR. Mechanical signals generated by VNS are similar to the autonomic nerve pathways and, thus, we propose the hypothesis that different HRs during seizures can predict VNS efficacy in patients. If VNS is highly efficient in patients with IT during seizures, VNS in patients with a normal HR during seizures may be less efficient, and may even be inefficient in patients with IB during seizures., Video abstract

Introduction The causes of falls and resultant head injuries in people with epilepsy are complex and represent important clinical issues significantly impacting on safety, quality of life and long-term prognosis. A general solution for many years has been to provide helmets for head protection. There is poor understanding of the influencing risk factors and solutions to give person-centred clinical advice. Methods A focused narrative review was conducted to investigate the risk factors for seizure-related head injuries and evidence of current helmets to offer protection. Four databases were searched (Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and Cochrane Library) using combinations of text words and thesaurus terms for the retrieval of articles relating to seizure-related head injury. Articles for full analysis were selected by a ten item pre-defined inclusion criteria. Results Of 104 relevant studies longlisted 21 studies met four or more of the predefined criteria and included in this review. A further nine papers were included because they added additional relevant information. Conclusions Seizure-related head injury, although rare, may have serious consequences. High doses of antiepileptic/antiseizure drugs (AEDs/ASDs) and a prescription for three or more AEDs/ASDs are significant, modifiable, risk factors for head injury. Differentiating confusion due to post-ictal changes or concussion can be challenging. Seizure-related cardiac causes leading to injury due to ictal bradycardia or asystole is under investigated. More research is required to validate the protective benefit of various helmet designs in seizure-related head injury. It is striking that there are no International Standards for protective helmets in seizures.

Ictal bradycardia and asystole are rare, but potentially serious complications of epileptic seizures. We present a case series of three such patients diagnosed through our syncope service. For two patients, treatment with anticonvulsant therapy alone achieved symptom control. The third patient was initially managed with permanent pacemaker insertion due to detection of a significant ventricular pause. He subsequently developed more pronounced symptoms suggestive of seizure.Ictal asystole can cause significant diagnostic challenge and management strategies remain controversial due to the overlap in presentation to cardiology and neurology services. The number of patients affected is low, impeding the formulation of an evidence base for treatment. We propose multidisciplinary working facilitated by a specialist syncope service as a means of recognising and treating this condition more effectively.

Increased availability of genetic testing has led to identification of expanding SCN8A phenotypic spectrum ranging from early-infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE) to developmental and cognitive disabilities, movement disorders, and a possible high incidence of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy patients (SUDEP). Children with SCN8A mutations may also have dysfunction of cardiac voltage gated sodium channels, resulting in ictal cardiac symptoms with associated respiratory distress. We report a case series of two patients with de novo SCN8A mutation. These patients presented with recurrent tonic seizures at 4 and 6 months of age, along with ictal bradycardia and asystole respectively. Interictally both patients had normal EEG and cardiac evaluation. The antiepileptic drug treatment choice was made prior to known genetic abnormality, with resultant decrease in seizure frequency and severity of cardiorespiratory symptoms in both patients. The association of SCN8A mutation–related rare epilepsy with ictal cardiac symptoms has not been well described in the literature. The association of ictal cardiac phenomena with this mutation is important in patient treatment, family education, and risk of complications such as SUDEP. The role of SCN8A in the mechanism of SUDEP requires future studies.

Purpose The peri-ictal autonomic disturbances have been studied as predictors of seizure outcome and as markers of seizure onset. We studied the changes in heart rate (HR), HRV, oxygen saturation and blood pressure (BP) in the peri-ictal period in patients with drug-resistant localization-related epilepsy. Methodology Ninety one subjects undergoing video-EEG monitoring, underwent continuous HR, SpO 2 , BP and Lead II ECG monitoring. The changes during the preictal, ictal and postictal periods were analyzed for 57 seizures in 42 patients with artifact-free recordings and correlated with VEEG ictal onset and MRI characteristics. Results Ictal tachycardia was noted in 15 (26.3%) seizures, of which, 60% had temporal lobe onset. HR increased by an average of 20.1% from pre-ictal to ictal phases (p=0.04). Ictal bradycardia was noted in one event with right temporal seizure onset. Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of the preictal, ictal and postictal phases showed an increase in the sympathetic and decrease in parasympathetic activity during the ictus with relatively preserved total power. Ictal oxygen desaturation (84.1%±3.5%) was noticed in 10 (17.5%) seizures. Ictal hypertension was observed in 15 (26.3%); ictal hypotension was noted in 5 (8.7%) seizures. Both the systolic BP and diastolic BPs increased from the pre-ictal to ictal phase (p=0.01). Conclusions Peri-ictal dysautonomia can present in variable patterns and can be measured and compared over different modalities such as BP, HR and HRV. Though degree of tachycardia and increase in BP were higher during extratemporal onset of seizures, a fall in variability was noted in seizures of temporal lobe origin. Oxygen desaturation is not an uncommon event during the peri-ictal period in localization related epilepsy.

The ictal bradycardia syndrome occurs when epileptic discharges disrupt normal cardiac rhythms leading to a reduction of heart rate that is more than 10 beats/min below the baseline. Mostly documented ictal bradycardias are accompanied by complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy is often assumed to be associated with a concomitant seizure, but it is almost impossible to prove conclusively. Here, we report the case of a 52-year-old female patient admitted with the complaints of two episodes of generalized tonic–clonic seizures and vomiting followed by presyncope and syncope. The patient was admitted in a drowsy disoriented state with hypotension and electrocardiogram (ECG) illustrating sinus tachycardia. Later during admission, the patient developed complex focal seizures with secondary generalization and cardiac arrest. During video electroencephalogram/ECG, she had another similar episode and cardiac arrest. ECG showed rapid progression to asystole and ventricular pause of 25 s followed by complete heart block with ventricular escape rhythm of 17 beats/min. She was implanted with a temporary pacemaker but later during the hospitalization, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy occurred in spite of cardiac pacing and optimum antiepileptic medication. Most documented pauses are of nonlife-threatening duration (range 3–20 s) with longer pauses being observed. Cardiac pacing may help to reduce the risk of falls, but in the absence of official practice guidelines, cardiac pacing should only be considered for patients in whom conventional antiepileptic therapy has failed to prevent ictal asystole. Early diagnosis, interventions, and optimum antiepileptic dose escalation with occasional epilepsy surgery are the mainstay to prevent mortality and severe prognosis of the ictal bradycardia syndrome.

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) due to SCN8A gene variants is characterized by drug-resistant early onset epilepsy associated with severe intellectual disability. Different seizure types have been reported, and a sequence of autonomic manifestations such as brady-/tachycardia, irregular breathing, and cyanosis. Nevertheless, an exhaustive video-polygraphic documentation is still lacking. In this study, we reviewed the ictal electroencephalograms (EEGs) of five patients with SCN8A-DEE followed-up at the Neuroscience Department at Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital in Rome. We identified generalized tonic seizure as the major seizure type at epilepsy onset. Seizure severity could vary from subtle to marked clinical manifestations, depending from the extent and groups of muscles involved and association with autonomic modifications. We found autonomic signs in 80% of seizures in our cases, and we were able to identify a stereotyped sequence of ictal events for most of seizures. Autonomic signs occurred in rapid sequence: flushing of the face, sometimes associated with sialorrhea, bradycardia, and hypopnea appeared within the first 1–2 s. Tachycardia, polypnea, perioral cyanosis, and pallor occurred later in the course of the seizure. Generalized tonic seizures are rarely described in other genetic epileptic conditions of early infancy because of ion channel mutations, such as in DEE due to KCNQ2 or SCN2A gene mutations, where seizures are most frequently reported as focal to bilateral tonic. Therefore, generalized symmetric tonic seizures with autonomic signs can be considered a clinical hallmark for diagnosis of SCN8A-related DEE and relevant for therapeutic implications.

32.Ulusal Nörofizyoloji EEG-EMG Kongresi’nde (27 Nisan- 1 Mayıs 2016, Bodrum) Sözel Bildiri olarak sunulmuştur. Video EEG monitorizasyon (VEM) ünitelerinde hastalara iki elektrot aracığıyla eş zamanlı EKG monitörizasyonu yapılmaktadır. EKG kaydının olması, EEG artefaktlarının epileptik deşarjlardan ayırımının yanı sıra, interiktal ya da periiktal dönemde ortaya çıkabilicek kardiyak aritmileri de gösterebilmektedir. Bu aritmilerin ayrıca ani beklenmeyen ölümlere (SUDEP: Sudden unexpexcted death of epilepsy) yol açabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bu çalışmada VEM ünitelerinde takip edilen hastaların eş zamanlı EEG-EKG kayıtları retrospektif değerlendirilerek aritmilerin tanımlanması ve ilişkili olabilecek faktörlerin belirlenmesi araştırılması amaçlandı. Mart 2014 ile Şubat 2016 arasında VEM ünitesinde takip edilen hastaların EEG-EKG kayıtları ve nöbet semiyolojileri retrospektif olarak incelendi. Yaş, cinsiyet, nöbet sınıflandırması, nöbet sayısı, aritmi varlığı, ortaya çıkış zamanı ve tiplendirmesi yapılarak, bunların birbiri ile ilişkisi değerlendirildi. Çalışmaya dahil edilen 165 hastanın %45,4’ü (n:75) kadın, %54,5’i (n:90) erkekti. Kadın hastaların yaş ortalaması 34±3 iken erkeklarin yaş ortalaması 49± 5 idi. Tüm bu hastaların EEG- EKG ve nöbet bulguları değerlendirildi. Hastaların %77’si (n:127) fokal, %23’ü (n:38) jeneralize epilepsi hastasıydı. Kayıt edilen toplam 370 fokal nöbetin %62,9’u (n:233) temporal, %24,8’i (n:92) frontal, %9 (n:35) parietoksipital kaynaklıydı. Temporal lob kaynaklı nöbetlerin %35’inde (n:82), frontal lob nöbetlerin %50’sinde (n:46) parietoksipital nöbetlerin %11’inde (n:4) iktal taşikardi saptandı. Tespit edilen 79 jeneralize nöbetin %87’sinde (n:69) iktal taşikardi tespit edildi. Temporal lob kaynaklı nöbetlerin %5,6’sında (n: 13), frontal nöbetlerin %2,2’sinde (n:2) ve primer jeneralize nöbetlerin ise %1’inde (n:8) iktal bradikardi saptandı. Temporal epilepsili 1 (%0,43) hastada ise iktal asistoli tespit edildi. Çalışmamızda epilepside ortaya çıkabilecek ritm bozukluklarının sıklık, nöbet semiyolojisi ve EEG ile ilişkisinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Video EEG monitoring (VEM) units are used for simultaneous ECG monitoring with two electrodes. The presence of ECG recordings may also indicate cardiac arrhythmias, which may ocur in the interictal or periictal period, as well as the differentiation of EEG artifacts from epileptic discharges. These arrhythmias are also thought to lead to sudden unexpected deaths (SUDEP: sudden epilepsy death). The aim of this study was to evaluate the simultaneous EEG-ECG recordings of the patients who were followed in VEM units and to determine the factors that may be related to the identification of the arrhythmias. EEG-ECG recordings and seizure semiology of the patients who were followed in VEM unit between March 2014 and February 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Age, gender, seizure classification, seizure number, presence of arrhythmia, type of arrhythmia and their relation with each other were evaluated. Of the 165 patients included in the study, 45.4% (n: 75) were female and 54.5% (n: 90) were male. The mean age of the females was 34 ± 3 years and the mean age of the males was 49 ± 5 years. EEG-ECG and seizure findings of all these patients were evaluated. 77% (n: 127) of the patients were focal and 23% (n: 38) were generalized epilepsy patients. Of the total recorded 370 focal seizures, 62,9% (n:233) were temporal, 24,8% (n:92) were frontal, 9% (n:35) were from parieto occipital origin. Ictal tachycardia was found in 35% (n:82) of the temporal lobe-induced seizures, 50% (n:46) of the frontal lobe seizures and 11% (n:4) of the parieto-occipital seizures. Ictal tachycardia was detected in 87% (n:69) of 79 generalized seizures. In 5.6% (n:13) of the temporal lobe-induced seizures , 2.2% (n: 2) of frontal seizures and 1% (n: 8) of primary generalized seizures were ictal bradycardia. In patients with temporal epilepsy was detected ictal asystole 0.43% (n:1). The aim of this study was to determine frequency of rhythm disorders that may occur in epilepsy, the relationship between seizure semiology and EEG.

1.Funtional Hb(carries oxygens) ->OXYHAEMOGLOBIN 2.Non Functional Hb(don’t carry oxygen)->Carboxy and MethHb Oxygenated hemoglobin absorbs more infrared light and allows more red light to pass through. Deoxygenated (or reduced) hemoglobin absorbs more red light and allows more infrared light to pass through. HbO2-> IR(910nm) Hb->Red Light(660 nm) The project aims at reducing the percentage of people suffering from Epileptic Seizures and dying as a result of SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected death in Epilepsy)by pre-detecting seizure attack at it’s initial stage and thereby making immediate medical care possible. The cost have been minimized in order to make it affordable for all economic groups. The compactness provides easy handling of the device. It inflicts no harm to the environment and the body of the subject concerned. As per the report published by Atlas Epilepsy Care on 2005, Epilepsy is affecting life of more than 50 million people worldwide. 80% of the burden of epilepsy is in the developing world, where in some areas 80–90% of people with epilepsy receive no treatment at all. With continuous expansion of health care market in both developing and developed countries, as per 2017 report Epilepsy Drug market has already reached over 9.5 Billion USD and continue to show exceptional growth.By looking at this stat, this low cost device will create a huge impact to the society and will encourage investor to invest on the product. Most foreseeing revenue will be generated from the Developing countries like India and the estimated revenue impact can only be justified once a working model development is completed. • For some people living with epilepsy, the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is an important concern. SUDEP refers to deaths in people with epilepsy that are not caused by injury, drowning, or other known causes. The exact cause is not known, but these are most possible factors: 1. Breathing 2. Heart rhythm. Complex partial seizures originated from both left and right temporal lobes. Mean seizure duration (+/-SD) was 73 +/- 18 s .Mean Spo2 was 83 +/- 5% (range, 77-91%), occurring an average of 35 +/- 12 s after the onset of the desaturation. Of the 181 seizures from 81 patients with ictal ECGs, 177 seizures (98%) from 77 patients were accompanied by ictal tachycardia(above 100 beats per minute). And only 1 patient was accompanied by ictal bradycardia. HR increases rapidly within 10 seconds before seizure onset and ictus, and typically slows to normal with seizure offset. Common carotid arteries chiefly supply the head and neck region. Each common carotid artery bifurcates into external carotid artery(ECA) and internal carotid artery (ICA).There are two types of Haemoglobin consisted in the blood.

Although an impact of epilepsy on circadian rhythmicity is well-recognized, there are profound gaps in our understanding of the influence of seizures on diurnal rhythms. The effect on activity levels and heart rate is of particular interest as it might contribute to the disease burden. The kindling model with telemetric transmitter implants provides excellent opportunities to study the consequences of focal and generalized seizures under standardized conditions. Data from kindled rats with generalized seizures revealed an increase in activity and heart rate during the resting phase. Total and short-term heart rate variabilities were not affected by electrode implantation or seizure induction. Ictal alterations in heart rate associated with generalized seizures were characterized by a biphasic bradycardia with an immediate drop of heart rate followed by a transient normalization and a second more steady decrease. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate that once daily generalized seizures can exert significant effects on heart rate rhythms. Respective alterations in patients would be of relevance for patient counselling and therapeutic management. Occurrence of biphasic bradycardia associated with seizure induction suggests that the kindling model is suitable to study the consequences and the prevention of ictal bradycardia, which may pose patients at risk for sudden unexpected death.

Background Epileptic seizures can lead to cardiac arrhythmias. The arrhythmias may be in the form of tachycardia, bradycardia or asystole. Ictal bradycardia and asystole can lead to sudden unexpected death. Case presentation A case report of a 40-year-old male with complex partial temporal lobe epilepsy. He has coincident attacks of fall and pallor. The patient underwent simultaneous electrocardiogram (ECG) and video electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring. The slow activity in EEG coincide with the appearance of bradycardia in ECG then cardiac asystole which clinically correspond to the patient syncope. After insertion of a cardiac pacemaker, only complex partial attacks develop with a marked reduction in frequency and no more fall attacks. Conclusion Epileptic seizures can present with cardiac arrhythmias, with ictal asystole leading to sudden unexpected death. Simultaneous EEG and ECG are essential for the diagnosis. A cardiac pacemaker can be lifesaving for patients with ictal arrhythmias.

Background Ictal asystole (IA) and ictal bradycardia (IB) are mainly seen with temporal or frontal lobe epilepsy. Many patients with these conditions undergo cardiac pacemaker therapy but not epilepsy surgery. Case Description We report the case of a 15-year-old boy with IA and IB secondary to right posterior quadrant epilepsy (PoQE) who underwent right posterior quadrant disconnection, but not cardiac pacemaker implantation. He has remained free from daily epileptic seizures, IA, and IB for more than 6 months postoperatively. This is the first report of a radically treated case with IA and IB caused by PoQE. Conclusions Both temporofrontal lobe epilepsy and PoQE caused the IA and IB. Because a cardiac pacemaker only addresses arrhythmia, not epileptic seizures, radical treatment for both epilepsy and arrhythmia may be warranted for patients with medically intractable epilepsy.

Resumen Introduccion Bradicardia y asistolia ictal (BI/AI) son manifestaciones infrecuentes en crisis focales, con prevalencia del 0,4%, asociadas a traumatismos por caidas y/o muerte subita. Nuestro objetivo es alertar entre la asociacion de crisis con caidas por atonia ictal tardia (AIT) y BI/AI en pacientes sin alteraciones cardiacas preexistentes, destacando la utilidad del videoelectroencefalograma con electrocardiograma simultaneo (VEEG-ECG) para reconocer los sintomas y realizar tratamiento precoz. Casos Caso 1: mujer de 45 anos, con epilepsia resistente, presentando crisis focales discognitivas. Ultimamente agrego caidas con traumatismo de craneo. IRM cerebral normal. El VEEG-ECG registro 5 crisis con semiologia electroclinica temporal izquierda; en una de ellas presento asistolia de 30 seg luego de 49 seg del inicio ictal con AIT y mioclonias. La paciente fue tratada con marcapasos cardiaco, no repitiendo caidas. Caso 2: varon, 32 anos, con crisis focales discognitivas con aura de deja-vu y/o parestesias en la garganta, ocasionalmente seguidas de caidas con postura flacida. IRM cerebral que mostro esclerosis del hipocampo derecho. El VEEG-ECG registro 3 crisis con semiologia electroclinica temporal derecha. En 2 eventos presento AIT asociada a asistolia de 10 seg, a los 44 seg de iniciada la crisis. El paciente fue sometido a lobectomia anterior derecha, sin crisis hasta la actualidad. Conclusion La presentacion clinica atipica de crisis con semiologia del lobulo temporal y el signo de AIT, asociada en ocasiones a mioclonias, debe generar sospecha de BI cardiaca severa. El diagnostico mediante VEEG-ECG es fundamental para realizar un tratamiento mas precoz y agresivo, el cual puede incluir cirugia y/o marcapasos cardiaco, disminuyendo la morbimortalidad.

Sick sinus syndrome (SSS) is a dysfunction of sinoatrial node resulting in symptomatic bradycardia or sinus pauses causing decreased cardiac output with cerebral hypoperfusion and usually presents as syncope, presyncope or fatigue. The occurrence of a seizure is very rare. A 69-year-old man suffered two episodes of generalised tonic–clonic seizures. MRI and electroencephalogram failed to reveal the cause of seizures. In the emergency room, he experienced presyncope simultaneous to bradycardia and sinus pauses. He was stabilised with atropine and dopamine infusion and underwent definitive therapy with a permanent dual-chamber pacemaker with complete symptom resolution. Diagnostic confounders include convulsive syncope and ictal bradycardia. Syncope may be accompanied by myoclonic jerks (convulsive syncope), but postictal confusion is absent. Bradycardia may be seen during the postictal period (ictal bradycardia syndrome), but protracted sinus dysfunction is not present. Hypoperfusion due to significant SSS triggered seizures in this patient who may have an underlying predisposition.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most common cause of death in intractable epilepsies, but physiological mechanisms that lead to SUDEP are unknown. Dravet syndrome (DS) is an infantile-onset intractable epilepsy caused by heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in the SCN1A gene, which encodes brain type-I voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.1. We studied the mechanism of premature death in Scn1a heterozygous KO mice and conditional brain- and cardiac-specific KOs. Video monitoring demonstrated that SUDEP occurred immediately following generalized tonic-clonic seizures. A history of multiple seizures was a strong risk factor for SUDEP. Combined video-electroencephalography-electrocardiography revealed suppressed interictal resting heart-rate variability and episodes of ictal bradycardia associated with the tonic phases of generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Prolonged atropine-sensitive ictal bradycardia preceded SUDEP. Similar studies in conditional KO mice demonstrated that brain, but not cardiac, KO of Scn1a produced cardiac and SUDEP phenotypes similar to those found in DS mice. Atropine or N-methyl scopolamine treatment reduced the incidence of ictal bradycardia and SUDEP in DS mice. These findings suggest that SUDEP is caused by apparent parasympathetic hyperactivity immediately following tonic-clonic seizures in DS mice, which leads to lethal bradycardia and electrical dysfunction of the ventricle. These results have important implications for prevention of SUDEP in DS patients.

DergiPark: 379060 tmsj Aims: Ictal bradycardia is characterized as the presence of bradycardia during the ictal discharge and mostly seen in left temporal zone originated seizures. It could lead to conditions such as syncope, asystole and severe injuries. With this case report, it is aimed to emphasize the importance of applying 24-hour video electroencephalographyelectrocardiography monitoring in patients with unexplained loss of consciousness

Cardiac arrhythmias are frequently observed during epileptic seizures. Mostly they are benign, but severe bradycardia and asystole occur in 0.27-0.5% of patients who have seizures on video-EEG monitoring units. Especially patients with partial seizures involving the insular, orbital frontal and anterior temporal lobe regions, are at risk. Ictal bradycardia could be a cause of SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) and pacemaker insertion might therefore improve survival in selected cases, although more research is needed to prove this. We present a case of prolonged ictal asystole in a patient with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy originating from the temporal lobe.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine electrocardiographic changes in children during seizures. Methods: We assessed heart rate changes, RR intervals and QT changes during 47 seizures in children. Consecutive QT and RR intervals were measured for 60 s before the seizures, during the seizures and 60 s after the seizures during video electroencephalography monitoring. Results: There were 47 seizures in 18 patients. Five patients had generalized seizures and 13 patients had focal seizures. Twelve patients were male. The mean age during monitoring was 10.1 years (range 4 months–19 years). Ictal tachycardia was seen in every seizure. No ictal bradycardia was noted. There was only one dropped beat in a patient. The mean ictal heart-rate-corrected QT (QTc) interval was significantly higher than the postictal measurements (P= 0.005). Mean ictal QTc variation tended to increase during seizures and then decreased below the pre-ictal measurements in the postictal period. However these changes were statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). RR variance was significantly decreased during seizures compared to the postictal period and the standard deviation of the RR intervals was significantly decreased in the ictal period compared to the pre-ictal period (P= 0.014 and P= 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Tachycardia is the main finding in seizures in children. Ictal bradycardia and cardiac arrhythmias are very rare despite being more frequent in adults with seizures.

Ictal-related cardiac asystole is supposed to be a risk factor for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). We retrospectively analyzed the occurrence of ictal asystole in 2003 epilepsy patients undergoing long-term video EEG/ECG monitoring from 1/1999 to 6/2010 at the Freiburg epilepsy centre. Seven patients had cardiac arrest with a duration of at least 3s; 6 ictal, one postictal. In all patients, the temporal lobe was involved in ictal activity based on neurophysiological investigations or morphological lesion. Whereas asystole was self-limited in six cases, one patient with insular seizure origin had to undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Interestingly, also patients with a short history of epilepsy, low seizure frequency and under treatment in monotherapy showed episodes of asystole. In all cases, even with brief cardiac arrest, asystole was associated with subsequent EEG flattening.In conclusion, ictal asystole is a rare event even in a population undergoing major changes in antiepileptic medication. Temporal lobe epilepsy was associated with a risk for asystole; cardiac arrest also occurred in patients who, based on their history, might have not been considered at elevated risk for SUDEP.