title: The electro-encephalogram in childhood.
abstract: The electro-encephalogram (EEG) is a useful adjunct when clinical history and physical examination suggest the diagnosis of epilepsy, whether idiopathic, focal or petit mal. It may be helpful in separating the child with simple convulsions due to fever from the child whose epileptic dysrhythmia first finds outward expression while he is feverish. The real nature of disordered behaviour may be demonstrated by the EEG which shows specific evidence of temporal lobe abnormality. In many infective and metabolic disorders of childhood, the EEG has little if any diagnostic specificity, and there is real danger that a variety of entities, such as abdominal pain, aggressive behaviour or minimal brain dysfunction, may be incorrectly attributed to cerebral dysrhythmia on the basis of incidental EEG changes.
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D013036:Spasms, Infantile / Q000175:diagnosis