A retrospective evaluation of the characteristics of patients undergoing electroencephalography in a newly established pediatric neurology clinic

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the clinical and demographic findings of patients who underwent electroencephalography (EEG) for various clinical indications in a newly established pediatric neurology clinic. Methods: EEG records in the pediatric EEG laboratory, requested by the pediatric neurology outpatient clinic of Balıkesir University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, between November 2019 and August 2020, were retrospectively reviewed. Results: 884 EEGs were taken and 450 patients who had EEG for the first time were included in the study. The mean age of the children was 111.11±65.06 months (range 7-216 months). Of the patients who underwent EEG, 224 (49.8%) were female and 226 (50.2%) were male. When grouped by age, the least number of cases was between 0 and 12 months (n=6, 1.3%), while the highest number of cases was in the >12 age group (n=168, 37.3%). The three most common clinical indications for EEG imaging were; diagnosed/suspected epilepsy (n=279, 62%), syncope (n=58, 12.9%) and febrile seizures (n=32, 7.1%). While the EEGs of 314 (69.8%) cases were normal, 43 (9.6%) cases had abnormal EEGs and 93 (20.7%) cases had EEGs with epileptiform character. Localizations of EEGs with epileptiform character; the most common localization was generalized (n=48, 10.7%), secondly focal (n=23, 5.1%) and thirdly multifocal (n=8, 1.8%). Conclusion: We revealed the profile of a routine EEG laboratory in a newly established pediatric neurology clinic.