What has changed in the utility of pediatric EEG over the last decade?

We evaluated the utility of electroencephalography (EEG) in children with neurological conditions and compared the results with those of our previous study on excessive uses of pediatric EEG, which was published in 2003. We also evaluated the possibility of subsequent EEGs and satisfactory duration of EEG recordings according to EEG type and admission status. We also evaluated the yield of varying durations of EEG recordings.

All consecutive pediatric EEG records performed at Gazi University EEG laboratory during a 1-year period were retrospectively reviewed. The indications of EEGs, the number of EEGs for each patient, condition and duration of EEG records, and activation techniques were evaluated in terms of detection of abnormalities by EEG.

We reviewed a total of 2045 EEGs in children aged 2 months–20 years. Of these, 776 were repeat EEGs (38%) and 485 recordings were ≥30 min (23.7%); 98% of EEG abnormalities appeared in the first 30 min. Overall, 90.5% of EEGs were ordered by a pediatric neurologist. There were similar requests for numbers of EEGs, but the rate of abnormal EEGs (43.6%) was significantly higher when compared to that of our previous study (36.2%).

The results of this study show that the utility of EEG becomes more selective and interpretation of pediatric EEG improves depending on the increasing number of pediatric neurologists. A duration of 20–30 min of EEG recording is sufficient, on the condition of inclusion of nREM sleep records.