SynthesisEpilepsia2022
Drug-resistant epilepsy and mortality-Why and when do neuromodulation and epilepsy surgery reduce overall mortality.
Synthesis in Epilepsia, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mortality in patients with epilepsy: a systematic review.Journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Drug-resistant epilepsy and mortality-Why and when do neuromodulation and epilepsy surgery reduce overall mortality.Epilepsia · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of naloxone in reducing hypoxemia and duration of immobility following focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures.Epilepsia open · 2025Trial
- Article
- Does having bad epilepsy make you a good surgical candidate? A number needed to treat analysis.Epilepsia open · 2026Review
- Effect Modification of Alcohol Use on Epilepsy: NHIS Longitudinal Study.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Cardiorespiratory cross-frequency coupling biomarker for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.Epilepsia · 2026Article
- SUDEP update 2026: recent advances in experimental and clinical research.Current opinion in neurology · 2026Review
- The molecular basis of KCNH1-related epileptic encephalopathy and the challenge of developing targeted therapeutics.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Integrating data across oscillatory power bands predicts the seizure onset zone in focal epilepsies.Brain communications · 2026Article
- A Review of Current Research and Barriers to Access: Exploring Disparities in Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery.Pediatric neurosurgery · 2026Review
- The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis as a neuromodulatory target for refractory epilepsy.Frontiers in network physiology · 2026Review
- Predicting response to neuromodulation therapies in drug-resistant epilepsy using machine learning models: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Bioelectronic medicine · 2025Review
- Long-term survival after adult epilepsy surgery: Mortality and predictors in a large cohort.Epilepsia · 2025Article
- Early Introduction of Cenobamate in Uncontrolled Focal Epilepsy: Insights from a Structured Controversy.Neurology and therapy · 2025Article
- Survival Outcomes and Predictive Factors of Mortality in Feline Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Retrospective Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: respiratory vs. cardiac contributions.Cardiovascular research · 2025Review
- Article
- Epilepsy surgery is not palliative.Epilepsia · 2024Article
- Early Identification of Candidates for Epilepsy Surgery: A Multicenter, Machine Learning, Prospective Validation Study.Neurology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy have an increased mortality rate, with the majority of deaths being epilepsy related and 40% due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The impact of epilepsy surgery on mortality has been investigated since the 1970s, with increased interest in this field during the past 15 years. We systematically reviewed studies investigating mortality rate in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery or neuromodulation therapies. The quality of available evidence proved heterogenous and often limited by significant methodological issues. Perioperative mortality following epilepsy surgery was found to be <1%. Meta-analysis of studies that directly compared patients who underwent surgery to those not operated following presurgical evaluation showed that the former have a two-fold lower risk of death and a three-fold lower risk of SUDEP compared to the latter (odds ratio [OR] 0.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.29-0.56; p < .0001 for overall mortality and OR 0.32, 95% CI: 0.18-0.57; p < .001 for SUDEP). Limited data are available regarding the risk of death and SUDEP in patients undergoing neuromodulation therapies, although some evidence indicates that vagus nerve stimulation might be associated with a lower risk of SUDEP. Several key questions remain to be addressed in future studies, considering the need to better inform patients about the long-term benefit-risk ratio of epilepsy surgery. Dedicated long-term prospective studies will thus be required to provide more personalized information on the impact of surgery and/or neuromodulation on the risk of death and SUDEP.
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Registered trials
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.