Use of the hand held video camcorder in the evaluation of seizures

Epilepsy is primarily a clinical diagnosis and eye witness accounts are invaluable in the differential diagnosis of seizures, but may be incomplete or misleading. A hand held video camcorder was used in this study to record seizures of patients to clarify the nature of their attacks. The videotapes assisted the diagnosis of non-epileptic attacks in nine of 22 patients (41%), and of epileptic attacks in eight of 22 patients (36%). Interactions with patients during filming were particularly helpful. Five patients (23%) could not be filmed, three of whom had seizures that were too shortlived to be recorded. In two patients (9%) a confident diagnosis of non-epileptic seizures could be made from the videotapes alone. Seven patients subsequently required video-EEG telemetry. It is concluded that the hand held video camera is a useful and inexpensive tool to provide accurate seizure descriptions, but it should be used in conjunction with other evidence to classify seizures.