Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society
-
To define the EEG and associated clinical features of septic encephalopathy, we studied 62 patients with positive blood cultures. Patients were divided into three clinical groups: nonencephalopathic (NE), mildly encephalopathic (ME), and severely encephalopathic (SE); the latter two groups had diffuse cerebral dysfunction. ⋯ The EEG (1) was more sensitive than our clinical criteria for encephalopathy, (2) showed features that were, when considered with clinical and laboratory characteristics, compatible with a potentially reversible encephalopathy, and (3) had well-defined categories that correlated with percent mortality, even within a single clinical group. We conclude that the EEG is a sensitive index of brain function in septic encephalopathy and that it is especially useful in the intensive care monitoring of patients with sepsis.
-
J Clin Neurophysiol · Oct 1991
Case ReportsExpanded head surface EEG electrode array: an application to display the voltage topography of focal epileptiform discharges of mesiotemporal origin.
Aided by computerized voltage topographic display, conventional time-series EEG display methods were expanded. Representations of both negative and positive ends of an equivalent current dipole can be localized in EEG sampled over the head surface. Intuitive EEG analysis can be applied to source localization in three dimensions of scalp focal epileptiform discharges.
-
Know what is not epilepsy. An electroencephalographer can do much more damage by overinterpreting than by underinterpreting an EEG tracing. Epilepsy is a clinical, not an EEG, diagnosis, but the EEG, when used appropriately, can greatly aid the diagnostic process. ⋯ Postictal slowing must be differentiated from progressive or drug induced changes. The best candidates for resective surgical therapy are otherwise healthy young adults with medically intractable partial complex seizures, no psychosis, and unilateral or bilaterally independent interictal anterior temporal EEG spike foci. Patients with multifocal or bilaterally synchronous interictal EEG spikes combined with mental retardation are less likely to benefit from resective surgery, although they may be helped by corpus callosum section.