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Epilepsy Behav 2018 12 3;89:94-98. Epub 2018 Nov 3.

F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Translational Neuroscience Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America. Electronic address:

High-voltage rhythmic electroencephalographic (EEG) spikes have been recorded in wildtype (WT) rats during periods of light slow-wave sleep and passive wakefulness. The source of this activity is unclear but has been attributed to either an inherent form of absence epilepsy or a normal feature of rodent sleep EEG. In contrast, little is known about epileptiform spikes in WT mice. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2018 Sep 28;129(9):1796-1803. Epub 2018 Jun 28.

Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, USA.

Objective: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) is the most common type of focal epilepsy, but often lacks scalp EEG correlates. We ask if hippocampal epileptiform discharges that are characteristic of mTLE are associated with small sharp spikes (SSS) recorded on scalp EEG. SSS are considered benign waveforms, so are not currently used as markers of epilepsy. Read More

Neurophysiol Clin 2018 Jun 21;48(3):171-179. Epub 2018 Apr 21.

Service de neurophysiologie clinique, centre hospitalier Sainte-Anne, 1, rue Cabanis, 75014 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, 12, rue de l'école de médecine, 75006 Paris, France; Inserm UMR S894, centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, rue de la Santé, 75014 Paris, France.

Introduction: In France, a systematic EEG is performed during initial examination in military aircrew applicants, which may provide an estimation of the prevalence of benign epileptiform variants in healthy adults.

Methods: We analyzed standard EEG (21 scalp electrodes, 20minutes, 400Hz sampling rate) of military aircrew applicants examined in the French Main Aeromedical Center in 2016. EEGs were analyzed using both bipolar and referential montages. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2018 May 8;129(5):952-955. Epub 2018 Feb 8.

Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.

Objective: Positive interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are rarely recorded from surface EEG, due to the orientation of the cortex and its neurons. Their frequency and significance in adults is unknown, and has only been studied as a phenomenon of the neonatal period and childhood. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of positive epileptiform discharges in a large cohort of patients. Read More

Neurology 2013 Jan;80(1 Suppl 1):S4-11

Department of Neurology, Mayo College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

The EEG is a unique measure of electrical brain function and is widely used in patients with seizures. Many normal variants and variations of normal EEG have a predilection for the temporal lobe and mimic epileptiform discharges. The high prevalence of temporal lobe epilepsy and the propensity for normal variants to occupy the temporal lobe may result in an undesired bias, leading to misidentification of normal waveforms. Read More

Neurology 2013 Jan;80(1 Suppl 1):S12-25

Department of Neurology, Mayo College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Potentials that do not conform to an expected electrical field generated by the brain characterize an extracerebral source or artifact. Artifact is present in virtually every EEG. It is an essential component for routine visual analysis, yet it may beguile the interpreter into falsely identifying waveforms that simulate epileptiform discharges (ED). Read More

Rev Neurol 2012 Apr;54(7):435-44

Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Tlalpan, Mexico.

Electroencephalography is an important tool in the diagnosis of primary or secondary disorders of central nervous system, epilepsy is one of the most important. Sometimes normal electroencephalographic activity simulates epileptiform activity. This activity does not have pathological value and is considered a variant of normal brain activity. Read More

Nervenarzt 2012 Feb;83(2):172-80

Epilepsie-Zentrum, Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Klinikum der Universität München-Großhadern, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, München, Deutschland.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a specific diagnostic method for the evaluation of patients with epilepsies. Interictal epileptiform discharges (IED) recorded in the seizure interval have a high association with the clinical diagnosis of epilepsy. IEDs have to be differentiated from normal variants that resemble IEDs. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2011 Jun;28(3):308-10

Mayo College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

The misdiagnosis of epilepsy may occur from the misinterpretation of a routine scalp EEG. Typically, interictal epileptiform discharges are misidentified on EEGs because of the overinterpretation of normal variants or variations in normal electrocerebral activity. Most reports of misinterpretation have arisen from patients diagnosed with psychogenic nonepileptic attacks using in-patient video-EEG monitoring. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2011 Apr;28(2):178-84

Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.

Computerized detection of epileptiform transients (ETs), characterized by interictal spikes and sharp waves in the EEG, has been a research goal for the last 40 years. A reliable method for detecting ETs would assist physicians in interpretation and improve efficiency in reviewing long-term EEG recordings. Computer algorithms developed thus far for detecting ETs are not as reliable as human experts, primarily due to the large number of false-positive detections. Read More

Can J Neurol Sci 2010 Nov;37(6):819-25

Service de neurologie, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal - Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Background: To ensure the overall quality of our electroencephalogram (EEG) laboratory, we decided to perform an audit of EEGs interpreted at our institution, focusing initially on EEGs reporting temporal abnormalities.

Methods: Reports of all EEGs performed between January 1st and June 30th, 2006 were reviewed in order to identify tracings mentioning abnormalities in the temporal regions. These records were then independently reviewed by two epileptologists on two distinct occasions, separated by an interval of at least six months. Read More

Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2009 ;109(10):51-6

Based on the analysis of clinical and neurophysiological data with the use of up-to-date methods of EEG processing, the authors discuss a role of cerebral asymmetry (CA) in the pathogenesis of cervical dystonia (CD). Sixty-seven patients (31 male and 36 female) with CD have been studied. The pathological turn of the head to the right side (RT) was observed in 34 patients, to the left side (LT) - in 33 patients. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2006 Jun;23(3):194-207

Department of Neurology, Tampa General Hospital, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33613, USA.

A thorough understanding of a normal EEG is critical in defining those patterns that are abnormal. Because EEG is unique in the ability to support a clinical diagnosis of epilepsy, epileptiform patterns merit careful consideration. Certain benign patterns maybe epileptiform, yet can occur in healthy individuals without epilepsy. Read More

Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2006 ;106(4):4-9

Fourteen patients, aged from 5 to 14 years, with syndrome of electrical status epilepticus during slow sleep (ESESS) have been studied. The absence of epileptic attacks was observed in 21.5% of patients and diagnosis was established by a combination of continuous diffuse epileptiform activity with marked cognitive disturbances. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2003 Feb;20(1):42-4

Departments of Neurology and Neurosugery, University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital, Florida 33606, USA.

The overinterpretation of EEGs is a known problem that has not been reported specifically. The authors report a series of EEGs on patients who were diagnosed eventually with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures and who had an EEG read as epileptiform. Of the 15 actual records available for review, the overread patterns were wicket spikes (n = 1), hypnagogic hypersynchrony (n = 1), and hyperventilation-induced slowing (n = 1). Read More

Epilepsia 1991 Jan-Feb;32(1):44-50

Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory, SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse.

Seventy-eight individuals with EEG records containing benign epileptiform transients of sleep (BETS) were identified among 7,400 records reviewed in our laboratory in a 6-year period. The records contained no other abnormality in 51 patients (65%). Genuine epileptiform discharges were found in the records of 19 patients; 14 had a history of epilepsy. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 1989 Jan;6(1):1-39

Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Infants and children display almost the entire range of interictal and ictal epileptiform patterns, exclusive of those seen in the neonatal period. This paper reviews patterns seen in the idiopathic and secondary forms of epilepsies, both generalized and partial, as well as periodic patterns and benign epileptiform variants as they appear in childhood. The discussion focuses on interictal activities, the abnormalities most commonly seen in the EEG laboratory. Read More