ABSTRACT

The ultimate goal of all research on sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is to find methods to reduce its risk, the most devastating consequence of epilepsy. As poorly controlled epilepsy appears to be associated with a particularly high risk of SUDEP (Tomson et al. 2008), and as drug treatment is the mainstay in epilepsy therapy, much attention has been paid to the management of the pharmacotherapy in epilepsy. Among the drug-related risk factors investigated are polytherapy with antiepileptic drugs, use of specific anticonvulsants, and adherence to prescribed antiepileptic drug regimen (Tomson et al. 2008).