Can routine EEG pick the good surgery candidate?
Routine electroencephalography (EEG) can be a useful tool in classifying a patient’s seizure syndrome. Some seizure manifestations are typical for seizure onset in the temporal, frontal, parietal or occipital cortex. Specific electrical discharges from these areas can help determine where seizures originate. Unfortunately, EEG is limited by the amount of time that can be sampled. The prevalence of any specific abnormal discharge is difficult to estimate from standard EEG. Prolonged recordings can estimate the ratios of certain discharges and predominance to help localize seizure onset when accompanied by video-EEG monitoring. Patients who have abnormalities on both sides of the brain, according to the EEG, may still be candidates for surgery. Video-EEG monitoring can record all the patient’s typical seizure manifestations. If the recordings all have unilateral onset, then surgery may be successful.
