"Study Links Child Seizures to Unexplained Deaths, Video Analysis Suggests Cause"
A study by NYU Langone Health, published in the journal Neurology, suggests that brief seizures during sleep may be linked to sudden unexplained death in children (SUDC). Researchers analyzed home monitoring videos of seven toddlers who died and found that five exhibited movements consistent with seizures shortly before death. The study is small but provides the first direct evidence of a possible connection between seizures and SUDC. Further research is needed to understand the frequency of seizures in sleep-related deaths and to identify children at risk. Parents are advised to be aware of febrile seizures, which have an increased risk in children who may later experience SUDC, although such cases are very rare.