Identification of factors associated with new-onset vascular disease in patients admitted for video-EEG monitoring: A longitudinal cohort study

Cardiovascular Effects of Antiseizure Medications for Epilepsy

Antiseizure medications (ASMs) are the primary treatment for epilepsy. However, adverse cardiac effects of ASMs can occur, related to their effects on lipid metabolism, raising ischemic heart disease risk; or specific actions on cardiac ion channels, increasing cardiac arrhythmia risk. Select ASMs, particularly enzyme inducers used at higher doses or for longer durations, can adversely affect lipids or cause metabolic changes, and thereby increase the risk for ischemic heart disease. These metabolic and potentially proarrhythmic actions may contribute to the increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality that occur in epilepsy. Many ASMs block sodium channels or affect the QT interval, which can lead to proarrhythmia, particularly when used in combination with other medications or given to vulnerable populations. While ASMs are rarely reported to cause cardiac arrhythmias directly, population data raise concerns that cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death may be more common in epilepsy, and that sodium channel blocking ASMs in particular, might contribute. It is also possible that some cases of sudden cardiac death could be misclassified as sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), leading to an underestimation of the cardiovascular risk in this population. Cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking and a sedentary lifestyle, are also associated with epilepsy, and should also be addressed. This summary is a narrative review of the literature, clarifies which ASMs tend to have more cardiovascular effects, and provides practical suggestions for medication management and monitoring from neurology and cardiology perspectives.

Hypertension and other vascular risk factors in patients with functional seizures

OBJECTIVE

Recent literature has suggested that functional seizures are associated with an elevated risk for vascular disease and mortality. We investigated the prevalence of risk factors for vascular disease in patients who were admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit.

METHODS

Patients who were admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit and received a definitive diagnosis of either functional seizures or epilepsy were identified. Data collected included demographic, clinical characteristics, medication list, comorbidities, and scheduled blood pressure measurements that occurred every 12 h during the admission. The mean blood pressures were calculated and if they were above the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association guideline cutoff of 130/80 mm Hg or the patient had a documented history of hypertension the patient was counted as having the condition. A multiple logistic regression model was developed to evaluate the independent association of the patient's diagnosis (i.e., epilepsy or functional seizures) and vascular risk factors that controlled for the number of blood pressure measurements, age, sex, and if the patient was taking antihypertensive medications.

RESULTS

270 patients were included in this study of which 147 patients had epilepsy and 123 had functional seizures. Among those with functional seizures, 57.72 % had either a history of hypertension or a mean blood pressure above 130/80 compared to 38.78 % of those with epilepsy (p = 0.0022). In addition, 30.89 % of functional seizures patients had hyperlipidemia and 63.41 % were obese. The logistic regression model indicated that functional seizures were independently associated with high blood pressure (OR: 2.47, 95 % CI 1.10-5.69), hyperlipidemia (OR: 3.38, 95 % CI 1.35-8.86), and obesity (OR: 4.25, 95 % CI 2.22-8.36) compared to those with epilepsy. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of diabetes (OR: 0.81, 95 % CI 0.24-2.77) or current tobacco use (OR: 1.04, 95 % CI 0.48-2.25) between the groups.

SIGNIFICANCE

Patients with functional seizures had an elevated prevalence of several vascular risk factors. These findings may partially account for complications associated with functional seizures and have implications related to their pathophysiology.