OBJECTIVE:

There is no opinion on the definition and request indications of emergent electroencephalography (EEG) yet. All EEGs except planned and given appointment before can be an acceptable definition of emergent EEG. in this study we analyzed all EEGs carried out in non-elective basis, recorded within one hour and reported in two hours and we also studied the correlation of these EEGs with the clinical findings.

METHODS:

There were 143 (7.93 %) emergent EEG among 1803 EEGs performed in our laboratory within one year of period. EEG was classified as "useful" if it clinched a diagnosis, excluded a specific diagnosis or helped in management.

RESULTS:

Most of the requests were from neurology (36.4 %) and emergency services (24.5 %). Reports of 43 (30.1 %) emergent EEG were normal, while 76 (53.1 %) were showing more or less abnormality of influenced brain function. in 72 % of EEG was showing correlation with initial diagnosis and EEG findings. Usefulness according to the referral diagnosis was nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE), encephalopathy and convulsive status epilepticus (SE) (100 %, 91.7 %, 89.9 % respectively) (p< 0.05). The correlation of initial diagnosis and EEG from neurology department (86.5 %) was statistically higher than other departments (67.3 %) (p=0.003). Neurology consultation was done in 118 (82.5 %) of cases.

CONCLUSION:

Emergent EEG has a very important role in the diagnosis of SE and NCSE. We recommend neurology consultation before reguesting EEG and definite initial diagnosis to get more beneficial results from EEG findings to diagnose and management.

Keywords: Emergent electroencephalography, indications, status epilepticus