[Diagnostic value of the EEG. Neurologic diagnosis today]

The principal fields of application of the EEG are 1) the identification of transient functional disturbances - especially in cerebral seizures - which cannot always be reliably observed clinically, 2) the tracing of concomitant signs of substantial lesions which in the silent areas are not necessarily associated with isolated neurological defects and 3) the determination of the degree of severity of abnormalities when they do not agree with neurological or psychic disturbances. The discrepancies of the clinical findings themselves sometimes demand attention and benefit the patient when they lead to the identification of disturbances which could not at first be recognized. Selective indications, planned interrogation and thorough correlations with the clinical examinations and other findings are decisive for the value of the EEG in detail.