Commencement of a paediatric EEG-video telemetry service.
The diagnosis of epilepsy is sometimes difficult in childhood. The events witnessed in children may be atypical and the interictal electroencephalogram (EEG) may be normal or contain non-specific abnormalities. The problems may be overcome by recording events on video-EEG telemetry. Over the first 18 months of this service, 82 patients were monitored--42 males and 40 females. Forty-two were daytime studies, 37 day and night, and 3 night only. Surface electrodes only were used. The system used was the 24-channel la Mont Video-telemetry unit from Medical Systems International. Parents served as observers. Events and a sample of interictal data were analysed. The commonest reason for referral was to determine whether an event was ictal. Other reasons included seizure frequency, classification or localization of onset. Presenting events were unusual motor activity, staring, change of behaviour, distressing visceral sensations, combinations of the above and miscellaneous phenomena. Events occurred during the recording in 66 of 82 subjects. Of these, 23 were judged to be ictal. These were complex partial seizures, absence seizures, myoclonic jerks, generalized tonic seizures, gelastic seizures and mixed seizure disorders. The non-ictal events were commonly habit tics or normal sleep phenomena, although pertussis, pallid syncopal attacks and extrapyramidal movements occurred. In 76% of cases the management of the child's condition was influenced by the telemetric study.
Bye
A
A
Department of Neurology, Prince of Wales Children's Hospital, Randwick.
Lamont
P
P
Healy
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D013686:Telemetry; D013981:Tic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis