Impact of the Occurrence While Sleeping of First Unprovoked Seizure on Seizure Recurrence: A Systematic Review

The impact of the occurrence while sleeping of first unprovoked seizure (FUS) on seizure recurrence in people with FUS is currently unclear. This uncertainty makes it challenging for physicians to determine whether to apply antiseizure medications (ASMs) to people with FUS while sleeping (FUS-S). This study aimed to determine the impact of the occurrence while sleeping of FUS.

We searched the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases. Among retrieved studies, we selected those that provided information on the number of people with FUS, and relapsed people among these in each instance of FUS-S and FUS when waking (FUS-W). We used a random-effects model for meta-analyses.

Of the 3,582 identified studies, 13 were eligible for systematic review. Seven of these 13 studies were deemed adequate for inclusion in a meta-analysis since they provided information at the time point of 2 years follow-up after FUS. The seven studies were of high quality regarding their risk of bias. When combining these 7 studies, the total sample comprised 1,659 people, of which 626 had FUS-S and 1,033 had FUS-W. The relative risk of seizure recurrence between FUS-S and FUS-W was 1.627. The seizure recurrence rates (SRRs) were 59.8% and 36.5% in the FUS-S and FUS-W groups, respectively.

We verified that the SRR was higher among people with FUS-S than FUS-W. After 2 years of follow-up, the SRR in people with FUS-S was about 60%. It is preferable to initiate an ASM for people with FUS-S.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42021266191.