title: [Clinical utility of outpatient videoelectroencephalogram monitoring].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the utility of outpatient videoelectroencephalogram (VEEG) in a general neurology department to detect an ictal event.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and five patients with ictal phenomenology of unknown etiology, suspicion of pseudoseizures, refractory epilepsy with very frequent seizures, underwent outpatient VEEG monitoring from 30 minutes to five hours of duration, between June 1, 1999 and June 30, 2003. Patient medication was not modified to perform the recording.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 105 outpatient VEEG monitoring, 33 clinical pathologic events were identified; these comprised 14 epileptic seizures, 12 pseudoseizures, four syncopes, and three non epileptic abnormal movements. Outpatient VEEG monitoring duration was as follows: 30 minutes in 12 patients, between 30 minutes and two hours in another 12, and more than two hours in 9. In 19 patients, the VEEG recording allowed a definitive diagnosis; in one case, it changed the epileptic seizure type, and in 11 patients, it helped to better characterize the epileptic seizure type.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the percentage of pathologic events during an outpatient VEEG monitoring of 30 minutes to five hours of duration is low, its clinical repercussion is very important and the added cost is low.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neurología, Hospital de Mataró, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain. pfossas@csm.scs.es
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fossas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Floriach-Robert
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palomeras
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sanz-Cartagena
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014741:Video Recording