Generalized periodic discharges in the critically ill: a case-control study of 200 patients.

Objective: Generalized periodic discharges are increasingly recognized on continuous EEG monitoring, but their relationship to seizures and prognosis remains unclear.

Methods: All adults with generalized periodic discharges from 1996 to 2006 were matched 1:1 to controls by age, etiology, and level of consciousness. Overall, 200 patients with generalized periodic discharges were matched to 200 controls.

Focal motor seizures induced by alerting stimuli in critically ill patients.

Purpose: We have previously demonstrated that it is common for alerting stimuli to induce electrographic seizures and other periodic or rhythmic patterns in the critically ill; however, only 1 of the first 33 patients we reported with this phenomenon had a detectable clinical correlate.

Methods: Review of charts and video EEG findings in critically ill patients in a neurological ICU at a tertiary care medical center in Manhattan.

Results: We identified nine patients who had focal motor seizures repeatedly induced by alerting stimuli.

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus in children: clinical and EEG characteristics.

Background: Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is a highly heterogeneous clinical condition that is understudied in the pediatric population.

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological, clinical, and electroencephalograpic features in pediatric patients with NCSE.

Methods: We identified 19 pediatric patients with NCSE from the epilepsy database of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at, Columbia University between June 2000 and December 2003.

Prognostic significance of continuous EEG monitoring in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Introduction: Predicting outcome in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may help guide therapy and assist in family discussions. The objective of this study was to determine if continuous electroencephalogram (cEEG) monitoring results are predictive of 3-month outcome in critically ill patients with SAH.

Methods: We prospectively studied 756 patients with SAH over a 7-year period.

Continuous electroencephalogram monitoring in the critically ill.

The use of continuous electroencephalogram (cEEG) monitoring in the intensive care unit is becoming more widespread, with improvements in data storage capability and networking and the increasing awareness of nonconvulsive seizures. Current and potential uses for this technology include seizure detection, ischemia detection, and prognostication. Nonconvulsive seizures are common in the critically ill, particularly those with acute brain injury and those who are comatose.