Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: A bibliometric overview

Fang Tong; Jian Lin; Zixuan Zeng; Qi Wang; Zhifang Yang; Yehui Lv

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1139521

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: A bibliometric overview

Front Neurol. 2023 Feb 23:14:1139521. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1139521. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fang Tong^{1

2}, Jian Lin^{2

3}, Zixuan Zeng¹, Qi Wang⁴, Zhifang Yang^{1

2}, Yehui Lv^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
² Institute of Wound Prevention and Treatment, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
³ Chongming Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Adult Internal Medicine, Hubei Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

The mechanism of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is elusive and many questions remain unanswered. Autopsy is generally unhelpful in providing evidence for the cause of death, as pathological changes may be on the molecular level. Although histopathological examination occasionally demonstrates pathology such as vascular malformation, old traumatic injury, and tumor, in most cases of SUDEP, the examination is negative. We examined the current status of SUDEP research by performing a bibliometric analysis of studies in the Web of Science Core Collection database published between 2002 and 2022. Our aim was to demonstrate areas of interest and frontiers of SUDEP research. A total of 1803 papers were included in the analysis. The number of published papers focused on SUDEP has been increasing since 2002. Main areas of interest include clinical manifestations, prevalence, treatment, and underlying mechanisms. Research teams from the United States and Europe are leading the way in SUDEP research, while Asia trails behind. Future studies regarding the mechanism and neuropathology of SUDEP are warranted.

Keywords: English literature; SUDEP; autopsy rate; bibliometric analysis; epilepsy; research interest.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Shanghai Sailing Plan (21YF1418800), Innovative Foundation Project for Students of Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences (202210262058 and A3-0200-22-309009-190), and Discipline Construction Projects of Institute of Wound Prevention and Treatment, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences (HXXM-22-08-004).