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Comparison of heart rate changes with ictal tachycardia seizures in adults and children

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Abstract

Purpose

Lower heart rate variability (HRV) is known to make patients more susceptible to tachycardia and possibly sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The heart rate (HR) at which tachycardia is present may vary by age. To date, no study has been done comparing adult and child seizures at different time points. The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of HR changes with ictal tachycardia (IT) seizures at different time points in adults versus children.

Methods

We retrospectively assessed the changes in the HR of 99 IT seizures in children and 96 IT seizures in adults. The difference between adults and children in gender, hemispheric lateralization or sleep/wakefulness, or seizure type on the HR changes and the difference between children and adults during 10 s preictal, ictal onset, and ictal and 60 s postictal were separately assessed.

Results

The HR difference and maximum HR increase with aging in children. The seizure duration in adults lasted longer as compared with that in children. There are higher HR at different points and HR difference at 10 s preictal as compared to baseline in children.

Conclusions

The study illustrates that age and duration were respectively related to HR differences distinguishing children from adults. There may be an age-related effect of HR changes associated with seizures, with higher HR at different times and HR difference at 10 s before seizure onset as compared to baseline in children, which might explain that children are more likely to predict epileptic seizures than adults, contributing to subclinical seizures and treatment efficiency in refractory patients.

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Abbreviations

SUDEP:

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

HR:

Heart rate

HRV:

Heart rate variability

EEG–ECG:

Electroencephalograph–electrocardiograph

LTM:

long-term monitoring

ILAE:

International League Against Epilepsy

SPS:

Simple partial seizures

CPS:

Complex partial seizures

CPS-G:

Complex partial seizures, secondarily generalized

IT:

Ictal tachycardia

IB:

Ictal bradycardia

BPM:

Mean, beats/min

ANS:

Autonomic nervous system

VNS:

Valgus nerve stimulation

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Meng was supported by the China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases (NCRC-ND), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81071224), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant No. 7123209), the Beijing Outstanding Talent Training Program (2009D003034000002), and the Beijing Health System Advanced Health Technology Talent Cultivation Plan (Grant No. 2011-3-032).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Liaocheng People’s Hospital, Liaocheng, 252000, Shangdong province, China

    Wei Chen, Chang-Li Guo & Shu-Jing Zhang

  2. Department of Neurology, Liaocheng Central Hospital, Liaocheng, 252000, Shangdong province, China

    Xi-Ting Zhang

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, 261031, China

    Xian-Wei Zeng

  4. Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100050, China

    Fan-Gang Meng

Authors
  1. Wei Chen
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  2. Xi-Ting Zhang
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  3. Chang-Li Guo
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  4. Shu-Jing Zhang
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  5. Xian-Wei Zeng
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  6. Fan-Gang Meng
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xian-Wei Zeng or Fan-Gang Meng.

Ethics declarations

The study conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University.

Conflict of interests

All authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, finance and/or publication of this article.

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Chen, W., Zhang, XT., Guo, CL. et al. Comparison of heart rate changes with ictal tachycardia seizures in adults and children. Childs Nerv Syst 32, 689–695 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-016-3034-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-016-3034-1

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