Predictive Power of Interictal Epileptiform Discharges in Fitness-to-Drive Evaluation
Heinz Krestel1, David R Schreier2, Elmaze Sakiri2
1From the Departments of Neurology (H.K., Y.A., C.J., H.B.), Neuroscience (H.B.), and Neurosurgery (H.B.), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Epilepsy Center Frankfurt Rhine-Main (H.K., F.R.), University Hospital Frankfurt, Center for Personalized Translational Epilepsy Research (CePTER), and Institute of Mathematics (G.S.), Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Neurology (D.R.S., A.N., J.M.); Departments of Cardiology (E.S.) and Pediatric Neurology (M.S.), Bern University Hospital and University of Bern; Neurocenter Lucerne (A.N.), Switzerland; and National Centre for Epilepsy (R.M.), Division of Clinical Neuroscience Oslo University Hospital, Norway. heinz.krestel@yale.edu.
Background And Objectives:
This study aimed to evaluate and predict the effects of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) on driving ability using simple reaction tests and a driving simulator.
Methods:
Patients with various epilepsies were evaluated with simultaneous EEGs during their response to visual stimuli in a single-flash test, a car-driving video game, and a realistic driving simulator. Reaction times (RTs) and missed reactions or crashes (miss/crash) during normal EEG and IEDs were measured. IEDs, as considered in this study, were a series of epileptiform potentials (>1 potential) and were classified as generalized typical, generalized atypical, or focal. RT and miss/crash in relation to IED type, duration, and test type were analyzed. RT prolongation, miss/crash probability, and odds ratio (OR) of miss/crash due to IEDs were calculated.
Results:
Generalized typical IEDs prolonged RT by 164 ms, compared with generalized atypical IEDs (77.0 ms) and focal IEDs (48.0 ms) (p < 0.01). Generalized typical IEDs had a session miss/crash probability of 14.7% compared with a zero median for focal and generalized atypical IEDs (p < 0.01). Long repetitive bursts of focal IEDs lasting >2 seconds had a 2.6% miss/crash probabilityIED. Cumulated miss/crash probability could be predicted from RT prolongation: 90.3 ms yielded a 20% miss/crash probability. All tests were nonsuperior to each other in detecting miss/crash probabilitiesIED (zero median for all 3 tests) or RT prolongations (flash test: 56.4 ms, car-driving video game: 75.5 ms, simulator 86.6 ms). IEDs increased the OR of miss/crash in the simulator by 4.9-fold compared with normal EEG. A table of expected RT prolongations and miss/crash probabilities for IEDs of a given type and duration was created.
Discussion:
IED-associated miss/crash probability and RT prolongation were comparably well detected by all tests. Long focal IED bursts carry a low risk, while generalized typical IEDs are the primary cause of miss/crash. We propose a cumulative 20% miss/crash risk at an RT prolongation of 90.3 ms as a clinically relevant IED effect. The IED-associated OR in the simulator approximates the effects of sleepiness or low blood alcohol level while driving on real roads. A decision aid for fitness-to-drive evaluation was created by providing the expected RT prolongations and misses/crashes when IEDs of a certain type and duration are detected in routine EEG.
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