Multi-system Monitoring for Identification of Seizures, Arrhythmias and Apnea in Conscious Restrained Rabbits

Patients with ion channelopathies are at a high risk of developing seizures and fatal cardiac arrhythmias. There is a higher prevalence of heart disease and arrhythmias in people with epilepsy (i.e., epileptic heart.) Additionally, cardiac and autonomic disturbances have been reported surrounding seizures. 1:1,000 epilepsy patients/year die of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The mechanisms for SUDEP remain incompletely understood. Electroencephalograms (EEG) and electrocardiograms (ECG) are two techniques routinely used in the clinical setting to detect and study the substrates/triggers for seizures and arrhythmias. While many studies and descriptions of this methodology are in rodents, their cardiac electrical activity differs significantly from humans. This article provides a description of a non-invasive method for recording simultaneous video-EEG-ECG-oximetry-capnography in conscious rabbits. As cardiac electrical function is similar in rabbits and humans, rabbits provide an excellent model of translational diagnostic and therapeutic studies. In addition to outlining the methodology for data acquisition, we discuss the analytical approaches for examining neuro-cardiac electrical function and pathology in rabbits. This includes arrhythmia detection, spectral analysis of EEG and a seizure scale developed for restrained rabbits.