Electroencephalograph (EEG)
The EEG is a record of the patient's electrical brain activity.
It is carried out by placing an array of electrodes on the patient's
scalp, held temporarily in place with an adhesive. Disturbance
of brain waves can provide significant clues to the nature of
an epileptic syndrome. An outpatient EEG recording usually takes
up to 1-2 hours. The yield of information increases if a sleep
recording can also be obtained. To facilitate this, we recommend
that you limit the patient's sleep to 4-6 hours during the previous
24 hours. This enables the patient to fall asleep during the recording.
Video-EEG
monitoring
Video EEG monitoring is carried out in the six-bed PEMU (Pediatric
Epilepsy Monitoring Unit), which is staffed by a highly trained
team of pediatric epileptologists, nurses, and technicians. This
completely computerized unit is one of only a handful of such
units in the country specifically devoted to children with epilepsy.
Digital recording of the EEG as well as the video signals results
in easy manipulation of large amounts of highest quality data,
making this a state of the art facility.
After the clinic appointment you would be admitted
to the pediatric epilepsy-monitoring unit, where a more detailed,
sensitive, and careful study of the clinical and EEG features
of the seizures may be accomplished. This monitoring process involves
continuous EEG recording with video observation of the seizures.
This analysis is typically performed in children with uncontrolled
seizures and is part of the normal workup for children being considered
for epilepsy surgery. Child life specialists provide emotional
support to parents and children during their stay in the monitoring
unit.
The expected length of stay is 3-5 days. The duration
of stay largely depends upon the frequency and complexity of seizures
as well as the necessity of doing additional testing (for e.g.
SPECT scan). In the case of a diagnostic evaluation where surgery
is not being considered, the expected length of stay is 3-5 days.
However, for a presurgical evaluation where additional testing
(for e.g. SPECT) and consultations (for e.g. neuropsychology evaluation)
might be indicated, the length of stay is 5-7 days.
