Abstract

GALTES, I.  and  COS, M.. Sudden death and epilepsy. Cuad. med. forense [online]. 2009, n.57, pp.231-235. ISSN 1988-611X.

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy is one of the main causes of mortality in epileptic patients. It is defined as sudden, unexpected, non-traumatic death in an individual with epilepsy, witnessed or unwitnessed, in which postmortem examination fails to reveal an anatomical or toxicological cause of the death. In this sense, postmortem examination uses to be unspecific and neuropathological findings are unusual. In this paper, a case is presented of a 29-year old male, with a medical history of chronic epilepsy, who died suddenly and unexpectedly during sleep. Neuropathological study showed brain anomalies in both hemispheres related to sulcation and neuronal migration disorders. We report the macroscopical description of these congenital malformations, which have been widely associated with epilepsy.

Keywords : polymicrogyria; cortical heterotopia; neuronal migration disorders; congenital malformations; forensic neuropathology.

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