Abstract
Sudden unexplained death is an unfortunately frequent cause of mortality in young persons with epilepsy, accounting for up to 10% (Leestma 1990a) of all deaths in the epileptic population. Almost all persons with epilepsy take one or more antiepileptic drugs for many years. Yet many if not most victims of sudden unexplained death are found to have low or no measurable plasma levels of antiepileptic drugs. is latter observation suggests that low levels of antiepileptic drugs or possibly their withdrawal may predispose to sudden unexplained death. e risk/benet of antiepileptic drugs in sudden unexplained death has recently become a concern of several investigators (American Academy of Neurology 1993). Although there are no rm data, the appropriate plasma levels of antiepileptic drugs may exhibit a protective eect by decreasing the contribution of some of the factors, such as metabolism and bioavailability, that may be contributory to myocardial electrophysiologic instability and/or the associated sudden death.
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