Diagnostic role of EEG in children having unprovoked seizures, experience at the neurophysiology department, The children's hospital, Lahore

ABSTRACT

Although advances in imaging technology offer ever-increasing diagnostic accuracy, the electroencephalogram [EEG] retains its importance and is the cornerstone for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Neurophysiology Department of The Children's Hospital, Lahore. Our aims were to find out the different types of epilepsies diagnosed on EEG in children referred for interictal EEG with recent clinical diagnosis of epilepsy. Out of 645 children referred for EEG after seizures, 415 [64%] were males and 230 [36%] were females, 21% had their first seizure before one year of age, 54% of them were between the ages of 1-5 years and 46% of them were more than 5 years of age. We found normal interictal EEGs in 54% whereas 46% children had abnormal EEGs. So in addition to supporting the diagnosis of epilepsy, EEG has significant potential to classify epileptic seizures