Tuberous sclerosis presenting as a suspicious sudden death--a case report and review of sudden deaths in epilepsy.

A case of a suspicious sudden death in a 19-year-old Caucasian female epileptic is presented. The brain showed characteristic lesions of tuberous sclerosis. In most sudden deaths in idiopathic epilepsy no causative lesion is found in the brain. A review of the past five years' cases attributed to sudden deaths in epilepsy from our department is presented, with particular reference to findings which might be construed as suspicious, e.g., signs of asphyxia and bruising in neck muscles, and to findings which support the diagnosis, e.g. biting of the tongue, voiding of urine, low levels of medication.