Epilepsy is a debilitating disorder of uncontrollable recurrent seizures that occurs as a result of imbalances in the brain excitatory and inhibitory neuronal signals, that could stem from a range of functional and structural neuronal impairments. Globally, nearly 70 million people are negatively impacted by epilepsy and its comorbidities. One such comorbidity is the effect epilepsy has on the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which plays a role in the control of blood circulation, respiration and gastrointestinal function. These epilepsy-induced impairments in the circulatory and respiratory systems may contribute toward sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Although, various hypotheses have been proposed regarding the role of epilepsy on ANS, the linking pathological mechanism still remains unclear. Channelopathies and seizure-induced damages in ANS-control brain structures were some of the causal/pathological candidates of cardiorespiratory comorbidities in epilepsy patients, especially in those who were drug resistant. However, emerging preclinical research suggest that neurotransmitter/receptor dysfunction and synaptic changes in the ANS may also contribute to the epilepsy-related autonomic disorders. Thus, pathological mechanisms of cardiorespiratory dysfunction should be elucidated by considering the modifications in anatomy and physiology of the autonomic system caused by seizures. In this regard, we present a comprehensive review of the current literature, both clinical and preclinical animal studies, on the cardiorespiratory findings in epilepsy and elucidate the possible pathological mechanisms of these findings, in hopes to prevent SUDEP especially in patients who are drug resistant.

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癫痫的心肺功能发现：关于结果和病理生理学的最新综述

癫痫是一种无法控制的反复发作的使人衰弱的疾病，由于大脑兴奋性和抑制性神经元信号的失衡而发生，这可能源于一系列功能性和结构性神经元损伤。在全球范围内，近 7000 万人受到癫痫及其合并症的负面影响。其中一种合并症是癫痫对自主神经系统 (ANS) 的影响，自主神经系统在控制血液循环、呼吸和胃肠功能方面发挥作用。这些由癫痫引起的循环和呼吸系统损伤可能导致癫痫猝死（SUDEP）。尽管关于癫痫对 ANS 的作用提出了各种假设，但其相关的病理机制仍不清楚。ANS 控制脑结构中的通道病和癫痫引起的损伤是癫痫患者心肺合并症的一些因果/病理候选，特别是在那些耐药的患者中。然而，新兴的临床前研究表明，神经递质/受体功能障碍和 ANS 中的突触变化也可能导致癫痫相关的自主神经障碍。因此，应通过考虑癫痫引起的自主神经系统的解剖学和生理学改变来阐明心肺功能障碍的病理机制。在这方面，我们对目前关于癫痫心肺功能发现的文献（包括临床和临床前动物研究）进行了全面回顾，并阐明了这些发现的可能病理机制，