title: Testing patients during seizures: A European consensus procedure developed by a joint taskforce of the ILAE - Commission on European Affairs and the European Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Association.
abstract: There is currently no international consensus procedure for performing comprehensive periictal testing of patients in the epilepsy monitoring units (EMUs). Our primary goal was to develop a standardized procedure for managing and testing patients during and after seizures in EMUs. The secondary goal was to assess whether it could be implemented in clinical practice (feasibility). A taskforce was appointed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE)-Commission on European Affairs and the European Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Association, to develop a standardized ictal testing battery (ITB) based on expert opinion and experience with various local testing protocols. ITB contains a comprehensive set of 10 items that evidence the clinically relevant semiologic features, and it is adaptive to the dynamics of the individual seizures. The feasibility of the ITB was prospectively evaluated on 250 seizures from 152 consecutive patients in 10 centers. ITB was successfully implemented in clinical practice in all 10 participating centers and was considered feasible in 93% of the tested seizures. ITB was not feasible for testing seizures of very short duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Danish Epilepsy Center, Dianalund, Denmark.|Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beniczky
authors.affiliation: The EEG and Epilepsy Unit, Department of Neurology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Miri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neufeld
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Neurophysiology and Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dobesberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trinka
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.|Department of Neurology, Vilnius University Hospital, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Ruta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mameniskiene
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Neurology and Epileptology, University Hospital of Lyon and Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rheims
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Program, Hospital Ruber Internacional, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gil-Nagel
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences (No. 6), Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Alexandru Obregia Hospital, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Craiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, United Kingdom.|Clinical Neuroscience, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pressler
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Neurophysiology and Neurology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.|Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krysl
authors.affiliation: The EEG and Epilepsy Unit, Department of Neurology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lebedinsky
authors.affiliation: "Claudio Munari" Epilepsy Surgery Center, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tassi
authors.affiliation: Danish Epilepsy Center and University of Copenhagen, Dianalund, Denmark.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rubboli
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.|European Epilepsy Monitoring Association, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ryvlin
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D032921:Consensus; D019468:Disease Management; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Epilepsy monitoring unit; Feasibility; Postictal; Seizures; Semiology; Testing