Cardiac asystole during a temporal lobe seizure

The association between temporal lobe seizures and cardiac arrhythmias has been anecdotally reported in the literature. Ictal bradycardia and cardiac asystole are rare, and maybe underestimated. The physiological mechanism is poorly understood. We report a patient with left temporal lobe seizures who developed ictal bradycardia and cardiac asystole during a complex partial seizure and required a subsequent placement of a pacemaker.