VNS Therapy may be associated with lower SUDEP rates.4
In a retrospective claims analysis, age-adjusted SUDEP rates decreased over time from years 1 to 2 (2.47/1000 person-years) to years 3 to 10 (1.68/1000 person-years).* A study on 277,661 person-years of up to 10 years of follow-up and 3689 deaths, including 632 cases of SUDEP, showed that long-term VNS Therapy is associated with lower SUDEP rates. The data suggest that SUDEP risk decreases during long-term follow-up of patients with refractory epilepsy receiving VNS Therapy.
*Limitations: This finding might reflect several factors, including ASM use, lack of a control group/seizure baseline, the natural long-term dynamic of SUDEP rate, attrition, and the impact of VNS Therapy. The role of each of these factors cannot be confirmed due to the limitations of study.