Usefulness of long-term video-EEG monitoring in children at a tertiary care center

The value of video-electroencephalographic monitoring (EEG-VM) in evaluating patients with epileptic disorders constitutes a major research field. This study investigates the usefulness of inpatient long-term EEG-VM for pediatric neurology patients under four headings: pre-surgical evaluation; seizure classification; epileptic seizure and non-epileptic paroxysmal event differentiation; and antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment modification. A retrospective study of 101 patients over a one-year period was carried out. The results showed that following EEG-VM, 57.4% of the patients were referred for discussion to the epilepsy surgery conference regarding resective surgery, and of these, 31% were deemed to be surgical candidates. The seizure classification assigned to the patients before EEG-VM changed in 73.3% of the patients after EEG-VM. Regarding the differentiation between epileptic seizure and non-epileptic paroxysmal events, a diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizure (PNES) was made in 4% of the patients after EEG-VM. EEG-VM outcomes led to the modification of AED treatment in 68.3% of the patients. These significant alterations demonstrate the usefulness of EEG-VM in the management of pediatric neurology patients.