title: Diagnostic value of short duration outpatient video electroencephalographic monitoring.
abstract: There is little published on the diagnostic value of short duration outpatient video electroencephalographic (VEEG) monitoring in children. The authors performed a prospective study on 37 patients (mean age = 10.4 years), with daily paroxysmal events who underwent short duration (mean = 3.2 hours) outpatient VEEG monitoring. Events were detected in 23 patients (62.2%), and a change in management as a result of outpatient VEEG monitoring was documented in 25 patients (67.6%). Despite the short duration of the outpatient VEEG in this study, the detection rate was comparable with the previously reported studies with longer duration monitoring. The authors found it convenient for the patient and less costly. The study demonstrated that short duration outpatient VEEG monitoring was able to differentiate between seizures and nonseizures in 11 patients (78.6%) and resulted in changing seizure classification in five patients (62.5%), and in selecting epilepsy surgery candidates in nine patients (60%). Short duration outpatient VEEG is useful as a diagnostic tool in patients with daily paroxysmal events, particularly in identifying nonepileptic events.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Neurology, Jordan University Hospital, Amman.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al-Qudah
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abu-Sheik
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Tamimi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014741:Video Recording