Overview

• Researchers at NYU Langone Health have identified brief seizures, accompanied by muscle convulsions, as a potential cause of sudden unexplained death in children (SUDC).
• The study findings come from a registry of more than 300 SUDC cases, set up a decade ago by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
• Researchers used extensive medical record analysis and video evidence donated by families to document the inexplicable deaths of seven toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3 that were potentially attributable to seizures.
• These seizures lasted less than 60 seconds and occurred within 30 minutes immediately prior to each child's death, say the study authors.
• Further research is needed to determine precisely how seizures with or without fever may induce sudden death.