 Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy SUDEP primarily affects young adults with drug-resistant epilepsy, with an incidence of about 0.4year. The diagnosis of SUDEP requires that anamnestic data and post-mortem examination do not reveal a structural or toxicological cause for death. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures GTCS are the main risk factor for SUDEP, which they appear to trigger in most instances. Indeed, experimental and clinical data strongly suggest that most SUDEP result from a postictal respiratory dysfunction progressing to terminal apnea, later followed by cardiac arrest. 