Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23741389›Full record

ArticlePloS one2013

Ictal modulation of cardiac repolarization, but not of heart rate, is lateralized in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Rainer Surges, Arthur Jordan, Christian E Elger

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Electrocardiographic abnormalities in epilepsy: analysis of cardiac conduction patterns and SUDEP Risk.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Neuroanatomical correlates of atrial fibrillation: a longitudinal MRI study.Journal of vascular and interventional neurology · 2014
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Rainer SurgesDepartment of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany. rainer.surges@gmail.com
Arthur Jordan
Christian E Elger
University Hospital Bonn · DE

Funding

Prevention and Risk Identification of SUDEP Mortality - the PRISM ProjectP20NS076965 · NINDS · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI LHATOO, SAMDEN · 2011 to 2013
$1.4M
NINDS NIH HHS 1P20NS076965-01NINDS NIH HHS P20 NS076965
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesHuman and animal studies provided controversial data on asymmetric cortical representation of cardiac function, which may partially be due to different study designs and inter-individual variability. Here, we investigated whether seizure-related changes in heart rate (HR) and cardiac repolarization depend on the side of seizure-activity in people with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE).

methodsTo account for inter-individual variability, EEG and ECG data were reviewed from patients with medically refractory mTLE undergoing pre-surgical video-EEG telemetry with at least 2 seizures arising from each hippocampus as assessed by bilateral hippocampal depths electrodes. RR and QT intervals were determined at different timepoints using a one-lead ECG. QT intervals were corrected for HR (QTc) using 4 established formulas.

resultsEighty-two seizures of 15 patients were analyzed. HR increased by ∼30% during hippocampal activity irrespective of the side (p = 0.411). QTc intervals were lengthened to a significantly greater extent during left hippocampal seizures (e.g. difference of QT intervals between preictal and ictal state using Bazett's formula; left side 32.0±5.3 ms, right side 15.6±7.7 ms; p = 0.016). Abnormal QTc prolongation occurred in 7 of 41 left hippocampal seizures of 4 patients, and only in 2 of 37 right hippocampal seizures of 2 patients.

conclusionsSeizure-related modulation of cardiac repolarization, but not of HR, appears to depend on the side of ictal activity, strengthening the hypothesis of asymmetric cerebral representation of cardiac function. The clinical relevance of this is unclear, but may indicate an increased risk of abnormal ictal QT prolongation in people with left mTLE.

Indexed as

Functional LateralityHeart RateAdultElectrocardiographyElectroencephalographyEpilepsy, Temporal LobeFemaleHeartHippocampusHumansMaleMiddle AgedYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID23741389
PMCPMC3669418
OpenAlexW2023982620

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.