Abstracts

Rationale: The baboon is a natural model of idiopathic generalized epilepsy with photosensitivity. The goal of this study was to identify SUDEP in a pedigreed baboon colony, define its incidence and describe demographic variables.Methods: This study was a retrospective case-detection survey of veterinary records for a pedigreed baboon colony housed at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas. SUDEP baboons had a history of witnessed, spontaneous seizures. Animals were included that died of natural causes with (definite cases) or without (probable cases) pathological confirmation between 1984 and 2005 (N=44). Pathological examination revealed pulmonary congestion and serosanguinous bronchial exudates implicating cardiorespiratory failure. A control group was selected from asymptomatic baboons that died of natural causes during the same time period (N=94). Results: Sixty-four seizure baboons died of natural causes in that time period, 26 had definite, and 18 had probable SUDEP. The definite SUDEP baboons died at an earlier age than controls (mean 6.0 vs 12.3 years old), and included a larger proportion of males (61% vs 47%). The definite SUDEP animals had a similar age of onset (mean 5.3 vs 4.2 years old)as the probable cases but had a longer epilepsy duration, and greater lifetime seizure count than the probable SUDEP cases. Conclusions: SUDEP is an identifiable cause of death in baboons with natural epilepsy in a pedigreed colony. Because of the similarities between baboon and human epilepsies, the baboon can serve as an excellent animal model for SUDEP.