Assessment of the diagnostic utility of the electroencephalogram in pediatric emergencies.

Introduction: We analyze the diagnostic utility of urgent EEG (electroencephalogram) performed in children under 16 years of age in our center.

Material and methods: Descriptive, retrospective, observational study of consecutive patients from 0 to 16 years of age, who underwent an urgent EEG for any reason, from January to December 2022.

Results: Of the 388 patients, 70 were children: 37 (52.85%) women, and 33 (47.14%) men. Average age: 6.27 ± 4.809. Of the 70 patients, 6 (8.57%) had previous epilepsy. Reasons for consultation: 17 febrile seizures, 10 first focal seizures, 10 first TCG seizures, 6 paroxysmal episodes, 6 absences, 3 myoclonus of extremities, 3 syncope, 2 SE, 2 visual alterations, 2 low level of consciousness, 2 cyanosis, 2 suspected meningitis or encephalitis, 1 choking, 1 atypical headache, 1 chorea, 1 presyncope, 1 language delay. Of the 70 patients, 47 had a normal EEG (67.14%). Of the 47 patients with a normal EEG, 10 were diagnosed with epilepsy, and 3 of them began receiving antiepileptic treatment upon discharge. None of the patients with suspected syncope or paroxysmal disorder (17 patients, 24.28%) had EEG abnormalities. Of the 17 patients with atypical febrile seizures, 3 had EEG abnormalities.

Conclusions: A third of the EEG records performed in the Emergency Department showed alterations, probably due to the time taken. Almost half of the patients with suspected epilepsy or EE showed EEG abnormalities, which confirmed the diagnosis in these cases and encouraged the clinician to start drug treatment. No case with a high suspicion of epilepsy was dismissed due to the normality of the EEG recording in our series. No patient diagnosed with syncope or paroxysmal disorder had EEG abnormalities. Nearly a quarter of patients with atypical febrile seizures showed EEG abnormalities. We barely register cases of status epilepticus, probably due to the degree of complexity of our center.