Are geomagnetic disturbances a risk factor for the sudden unexplained death of epileptic children?

The relationship between geomagnetic disturbances (with amplitudes above 50 nT) and the sudden unexplained death (SUD) of epileptic adults has been controversial up to now. In an autopsy-based cohort study (from 1964 to 1992) 15 epileptic children with SUD aged 1-14 years were compared to 63 epileptic children whose cause of death was known (KCD). The time of death as well as two international geomagnetic indices were assessed: Bartels' planetary 3-h signs (Kp) for the time of death and 2 h before, and the mean planetary daily amplitudes (Ap) on the day of death and on the 4 critical days before (and on the 4 post-mortem days as a control). Among the 15 SUD patients 9 died between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. (universal time) whereas the KCD group showed an approximately uniform distribution of the time of death ( P = 0.026, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). The Kp signs at death and 2 h before as well as the Ap indices at death and for the 4 pre-mortem days or after were not different in comparisons between the SUD and the KCD group ( P > 0.2, Mann-Whitney test). Furthermore the frequency of sudden storm commencement at death and for the 4 days before revealed no deviation of the SUD (26.7%) from the KCD group (23.8%) ( P > 0.2, Fisher test). The results do not support the hypothesis that geomagnetic disturbances are a risk factor for the sudden unexplained death of epileptic children.

Is sudden unexplained death in adult epileptic patients associated with geomagnetic disturbances at the day of death or the 4 days before?

Geomagnetic disturbances are controversially discussed as risk factor for sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP). An autopsy-based cohort of 39 adult patients with definite SUDEP were compared to 102 epileptic patients with known cause of death (KCD), who died between 1981 and 1992. Most of them had suffered from therapy-resistant epilepsies, predominantly characterized by generalized tonic-clonic seizures (about 70%). We analyzed an international geomagnetic index, the mean planetary daily amplitude (Ap), and the appearance of storm sudden commencement (SSC) at the individual day of decease and the 4 days before (and after). The SUDEP and KCD patients did not substantially differ with respect to the Ap values (Mann-Whitney test; P>0.2) and frequency of SSC (Fisher test; P>0.2) at death or the 4 premortem days. In addition, Ap values above 50 nanoTesla, postulated as critical threshold by other authors, showed no significant difference between SUDEP and KCD group for the day of death (5.1 versus 3.9%) or the 4 days before (5.1 versus 11.8%) (Fisher test; P>0.2). Consequently, the current data did not support the hypothesis that geomagnetic activities may act as a relevant risk factor for SUDEP.