Seizures may be cause of sudden unexplained death in children, study using video analysis finds

Seizures during sleep may be responsible for some sudden deaths in young children, according to researchers from NYU Langone Health who used home monitoring video donated by families of seven toddlers who died to analyze what may have caused it.

Sudden unexplained death in childhood, or SUDC, is estimated to claim over 400 lives a year in the U.S., mostly during sleep. Just over half of those cases, about 250 deaths a year, are in 1- to 4-year-olds.

The findings, published in the journal Neurology Thursday, show five of the seven toddlers died shortly after movements that a team of specialists deemed to be a brief seizure. The seizures lasted less than 60 seconds and occurred within 30 minutes prior to each child's death, the authors report.