Newborn EEG interpretation is considered a particularly challenging area. An understanding of the appearance of the normal newborn EEG was achieved considerably later than for EEGs of childhood and adulthood. In fact, before the 1960s, it was not generally accepted…
The term coma refers to a state in which a person is unaware of self and surroundings, even if stimulated from the outside. Between consciousness and deep coma, there is a continuum of possible levels of responsiveness and awareness. Encephalopathy…
This section deals with a group of waveforms that may mimic abnormal waves but have now been recognized as normal variants. By definition, a normal variant is not associated with disease, be it epilepsy or another abnormal state. A few…
There are many indications for EEG testing, but the most common reason that an EEG is obtained is to assist in the diagnosis of seizures and epilepsy. Although the history is still the cornerstone of the diagnostic process, in some…
An EEG is considered abnormal if it has findings known to be associated with a pathologic or disease state. As discussed in Chapter 8 , “The Structure and Philosophy of the EEG Report,” this distinction is designed to prevent the…
The essential purpose of recording and interpreting an EEG is to communicate information to the clinicians that will help guide the patient’s care. When patients are referred for EEG testing, the referring physician often does not have the opportunity to…
The use of filters in recording and displaying EEG data is an indispensable tool in producing interpretable EEG tracings. Without filters, many segments of EEG would be essentially unreadable. As we shall see in this chapter, the use of filters…
An artifact is a waveform in the EEG that is not of cerebral origin. Those new to the world of EEG interpretation are often surprised to learn that at least half the challenge of EEG reading consists of identifying artifacts…
In electroencephalography, the term montage refers to the order and choice of channels displayed on the EEG page. Several decisions go into the design of a good display montage: which electrodes to use, how the electrodes should be paired to…
It is easy to underestimate the importance of learning the skills of precise EEG localization compared with the bigger picture of EEG interpretation. On the face of it, the purpose of localization is to identify the location in the brain…