Epilepsy research
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Anesthetic-induced suppression of cortical electrical activity is a major concern during epilepsy surgery. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) has been recently evaluated in a few small series for its effect on the electrocorticographic spikes intra-operatively. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine is useful during intra-operative ECoG recording in epilepsy surgery as it enhances or does not alter spike rate in most of the cases, without any major adverse effects.
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Video-EEG monitoring is the ultimate way to diagnose non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) in intensive care units (ICU). Usually EEG recordings are evaluated once a day by an electrophysiologist, which may lead to delay in diagnosis. Digital EEG trend analysis methods like amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) and density spectral array (DSA) have been developed to facilitate recognition of seizures. ⋯ There was no difference in performance between the rating of physicians and nurses. Our study demonstrates that bedside nurses, ICU fellows and residents can achieve acceptable level of accuracy for seizure identification using the digital EEG trend analysis methods following brief training. This may help earlier notification of the electrophysiologist who is not always available in ICUs.