NIH Institute Funds Two SUDEP Research Projects

The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) recently announced that it has provided research grant funding for two studies related to SUDEP, or sudden unexpected (or unexplained) death in epilepsy. SUDEP is the leading cause of death for people with Dravet syndrome, accounting for more than half of mortalities. SUDEP excludes other causes such as trauma, drowning, or status epilepticus, but there is often evidence of an associated seizure.

In one study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University will establish a program called PRISM (Prevention and Risk Identification of SUDEP Mortality) that will collect data on patients who are undergoing seizure monitoring, and will use that data to conduct studies of the causes and prevention of SUDEP. The team will also establish a brain tissue bank and genetics database that can be used in conjunction with the data collected by the MEDICS database.

In the other study, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other research centers will investigate the predictive genes, biological mechanisms, and clinical biomarkers that indicate the onset of SUDEP. The researchers will analyze DNA samples collected from epilepsy patients, including patients with Dravet syndrome, to identify the mutated genes that cause cardiac arrhythmias and respiratory problems associated with SUDEP. They will also be studying the behavior of these genetic mutations in living organisms, and identify clinical indications of SUDEP that doctors can use to identify risk in their patients.

Read the details on the CURE website here.