Medtronic
 
 

Insertable
Loop Recorder

Cardiac Arrhythmias in Focal Epilepsy: A Prospective Long-term Study1


1. Selection Criteria

20 patients with:

  • Refractory partial seizures
  • Long video and EEG recordings of their seisures and MRI brain scans
  • Normal cardiological examination and routine 12-lead ECG
2. Reveal Plus ILR implanted
  • Devices programmed to record automatically if bradycardia (<40 beats per minute) or tachycardia (>140 beats per minute) were detected
  • In the event of a seizure, patients and relatives could initiate ECG recording with an external activator
3. Results
  • Four (4) patients had bradycardia or periods of asystole with subsequent permanent pacemaker insertion
Three of these four had potentially fatal asystole

“We have shown that implantable loop recorders can identify potentially fatal cardiac abnormalities in patients with epilepsy, and suggest that the incidence of bradycardia and asystole has previously been under-reported. Asystole underlies a proportion of sudden unexpected deaths in epilepsy, which could be prevented by cardiac-pacemaker insertion.”

John S. Duncan
Professor, Institute of Neurology
University College London

Objective

Determine the frequency of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with refractory focal seizures over an extended period.

Methods

Twenty (20) patients with refractory partial seizures received a Reveal Plus Implantable Loop Recorder to monitor heart rhythms.

References
  1. Rugg-Gunn FJ, Simister RJ, Squirrell M, Holdright DR, Duncan JS. Cardiac arrhythmias in focal epilepsy: a prospective long-term study. Lancet. December 18, 2004;364(9452):2212-2219.

 

 

Additional Information