Cardiac arrhythmias that masquerade as epilepsy

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Neurology

Background:

• Idiopathic epilepsy is a diagnosis of exclusion.
• Cardiac causes for neurological symptoms are sometimes overlooked.

Observation:

• 10 patients (20% of referrals) with suspected epilepsy had cardiac arrhythmias.
• Arrhythmias were sometimes only detected with prolonged ECG monitoring.

Findings:

• Cardiac arrhythmias were the cause or significant contributor to neurological symptoms in a notable percentage of patients.
• Delayed diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias is possible.

Implications:

• Clinicians should consider cardiac arrhythmias in epilepsy evaluations.
• Further investigation into cardiac causes for neurological symptoms is warranted.