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Ictal Asystole: An Indication for Pacemaker Implantation and Emerging Cause of Sudden Death
Author(s) -
WITTEKIND SAMUEL G.,
LIE OCTAVIAN,
HUBBARD STEPHEN,
VISWANATHAN MOHAN N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
pacing and clinical electrophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.686
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1540-8159
pISSN - 0147-8389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2011.03179.x
Subject(s) - asystole , medicine , ictal , epilepsy , cardiology , sudden death , syncope (phonology) , anesthesia , sudden cardiac death , psychiatry
Ictal asystole is being recognized as a potential mechanism of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP). We report a case of a patient without known cardiac disease presenting with ictal asystole resulting in syncope, trauma, and need for pacemaker implantation. The management of ictal asystole is also briefly reviewed. This case is notable for the asystolic episode wholly captured on video‐electroencephalogram/electrocardiogram, the serious risk of trauma and death posed to the patient, and its implications for the mechanism of ictal asystole. This report will alert physicians to the possibility of ictal arrhythmias as a cause of syncope and SUDEP in vulnerable patients. (PACE 2011; 1–4)