THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH OF THE FEBRILE SEIZURES
Abstract:
The opportunity of electroencephalography (EEG) in the study of febrile seizures (FS) is
controversial. Results of the studies are variable, even contradictory because of the study design:
number of patients, criteria for inclusion and exclusion (type of seizures, neurological status of the
patient, age), monitoring duration, time of recording/type of EEG (awake/natural
sleep/pharmacologically induced sleep), anomalies in the recorded EEG noted as pathological. The
EEG has a limited diagnostic value in very young patients due to a low rate of detecting the epileptic
pattern. The predictive ability of the epileptiform discharges for epilepsy was noticed in a limited
number of studies, especially being associated with focal, predominantly frontal, epileptiform
abnormalities. EEG should not be performed in a child with normal neurological evaluation and with a
first simple febrile seizure (SFS), but it may prove useful in patients with complex febrile seizures
(CFS). The need for this investigation should be adapted and integrated into the patient’s clinical
context.
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