Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society
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J Clin Neurophysiol · Mar 2001
Case ReportsContinuous EEG monitoring in a patient with massive carbamazepine overdose.
The authors report a woman who took a massive overdose (OD) of carbamazepine (CBZ). On admission she was unconscious with absent brainstem reflexes and multifocal stimulus-sensitive myoclonus. Continuous EEG recordings showed a burst-suppression pattern with bursts containing only generalized spikes accompanying myoclonic activity. ⋯ Autopsy revealed that cortical and subcortical structures were normal without neuronal necrosis or eosinophilia. Massive CBZ OD may produce a reversible encephalopathy that includes cortical hyperexcitability, a profound burst-suppression EEG pattern, and cranial nerve areflexia. Continuous EEG monitoring is helpful in managing seizures that occur as a complication of CBZ OD, after the course of recovery or worsening, and in providing assistance with prognosis.
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J Clin Neurophysiol · Mar 2001
Clinical TrialThe development of spectral EEG changes during short periods of circulatory arrest.
The EEG was monitored in 56 patients during implantation of an internal cardioverter defibrillator. The purpose of this study was to determine the main EEG frequency ranges that represent ischemic changes during short periods of circulatory arrest. The EEG was recorded with a 16-channel common reference montage (Cz). ⋯ In general, the spectral changes in the alpha and beta frequency ranges were most pronounced and consistent. In conclusion, to detect intraoperative cerebral ischemia, monitoring of changes in the four frequency ranges found is preferable to monitoring changes in the classically defined frequency bands. Furthermore, these results stress the importance of the alpha and beta ranges in detecting cerebral ischemia.