Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: critical appraisal of systematic review

Sept. 30th, 2014 Journal Club Featured Article:

Thurman DJ, Hesdorffer DC, French JA.  Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: Assessing the public health burden.  Epilepsia. 2014 Oct; 55(10): 1479-1485.

Summary of Article:

The limitations of the review suggest that the review’s estimate of the incidence of SUDEP in the general population is probably conservative and likely to be revised upward with future studies incorporating methods with more complete case ascertainment. In any event, it is clear from this analysis that the public health burden of SUDEP is substantial and deserves greater attention from clinicians and the medical research community. The estimated annual number of U.S. deaths from SUDEP—2,750—exceeds the corresponding number of deaths attributed to SIDS, of which 2,063 were reported in 2010.[29] For more than two decades, SIDS has received a great deal of attention from clinicians, researchers, and public health professionals, who through public education have achieved substantial reductions in its occurrence. SUDEP deserves the same attention. And in relation to other neurologic disorders, the relative importance of SUDEP is underscored by the years of potential life lost to it, a more complete measure of public health burden than mortality alone.

Critical Appraisal:

Prepared by Matt Agan, PGY-2   &   Joash Lazarus, PGY-4:  Journal Club 9-30

Guidelines for Critical Appraisal:

Critical appraisal of systematic reviews

[Abalos et al, Critical appraisal of systematic reviews: the WHO Reproductive Health Library, No. 4, Geneva, The World Health Organization, 2001 (WHO/RHR/01.6)]