TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Death in epilepsy with special attention to suicide cases
JO  - Epilepsy research
A1  - Fukuchi, Toshihiko
A1  - Kanemoto, Kousuke
A1  - Kato, Masaaki
A1  - Ishida, Shirou
A1  - Yuasa, Shoji
A1  - Kawasaki, Jun
A1  - Suzuki, Shigeru
A1  - Onuma, Teiichi
SP  - 233
EP  - 236
VL  - 51
IS  - 3
N2  - To examine clinical features of cases of death among epilepsy patients as a case-control study, with special attention to suicide, we analyzed the records of 43 deceased patients with well-classified epilepsy. The subjects were compared with 1,722 control patients who showed definite subtypes of epilepsy. As a result, among the major causes of death, 13 of the subjects suffered accidents (mostly drowning), ten experienced sudden unexpected death, seven had status epilepticus, and six committed suicide. There were no significant differences with regard to clinical variables except for psychotic episodes, which were more frequently encountered in subjects than in controls (chi(2)=6.771, P=0.009, Yates' modification). Statistically significant differences were found by epilepsy type as well (chi(2)=14.72, P=0.002), with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) proving to be most closely associated with death among the epilepsy patients. Further, suicide was only encountered in patients with TLE and the association was statistically significant (chi(2)=5.119, P=0.024). Half of those who committed suicide (n=3), did so by jumping in front of an oncoming train while in the midst of an episode of postictal psychosis. In conclusion, most cases of suicide in patients with epilepsy were found to be the result of an immediate causal relationship with ictal or interictal epileptic manifestations, rather than a result of augmentation of psychosocial stressors generated by a long-standing handicap derived from the severe illness.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0920-1211
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -