Why do I need a long-range video EEG?

  EEG is the first choice for the diagnosis of seizure disorders. In most hospitals in China, routine EEG usually lasts only 20-30 minutes and rarely includes recordings of sleep stages and seizure events, which limits its diagnostic value considerably. In recent years, video electroencephalography (VEEG) has become popular in major hospitals in China, and long-range video electroencephalography (LT-VEEG), which can be recorded for hours to days, can not only observe the changes in the EEG during the patient’s sleep period and capture the epileptiform discharges that are issued sparingly, but also may record the patient’s seizures and synchronous EEG changes, thus providing rich diagnostic information. LT-VEEG determination LT-VEEG monitoring is the primary test for analyzing the electroclinical characteristics of seizures and localizing the epileptogenic zone in patients with intractable epilepsy.  LT-VEEG helps in the diagnosis and staging of epilepsy. The description of seizures in the history is influenced by changes in the patient’s consciousness during the seizure period, psychological factors, and literacy, and inappropriate induction by the physician can also lead to misinterpretation of the patient’s seizure presentation. It has been shown that if relying solely on history analysis, epilepsy specialists identify seizures with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of only 50%, and physicians have a low rate of misdiagnosis of complex partial seizures and generalized seizures, but a relatively high rate of misdiagnosis of non-epileptic seizures and simple partial seizures.LT-VEEG recording of seizures allows physicians to “seeing is believing”, significantly improving the accuracy of clinicians’ interpretation of seizure symptoms and grasping the details in seizures. In clinical work, LT-VEEG is useful in identifying rare forms of seizures, such as epileptic dizziness seizures, eye fluttering, panic sensation, or conscious convulsive seizures. In addition, LT-VEEG is also helpful in the diagnosis of epileptic syndromes, such as the activation of epileptiform discharges during non-rapid eye movement sleep periods is an important basis for the diagnosis of benign childhood partial epilepsy.  Misdiagnosis of non-epileptic seizures as epilepsy is not uncommon in clinical practice. the identification of seizure events by LT-VEE depends on the ability to record the patient’s typical habitual seizures, and therefore the recording time is usually 2 – 5 days. Foreign reports indicate that patients with non-epileptic seizures generally account for about 20% of patients requiring monitoring, including psychogenic seizures, sleep disorders, migraines, and movement disorders, a percentage similar to that of patients on EEG monitoring in our unit. Among these patients with non-epileptic seizures, especially those with psychogenic seizures, a significant proportion have been on long-term antiepileptic drug therapy, which has an impact on the patient’s body and mind, and is also highly likely to pose a medical safety risk. In addition, it is not uncommon for patients with epilepsy to have combined non-epileptic seizures, commonly accompanied by psychogenic seizures and sleep disorders, which can lead to unnecessary antiepileptic drug dosing if the nature of the seizures is not clearly distinguished.  There are still some problems in the clinical application of LT-VEEG in China. First, we lack a large number of systematically and professionally trained EEG practitioners, which leads to uneven quality of EEG interpretation and interpretation. For example, normal physiological variables – rhythmic mid-temporal discharge in the elderly or hypnagogic hypersynchrony in children’s sleep – can be mistaken for epileptiform discharges This can lead to misdiagnosis. Second, some technologists and clinicians do not analyze the VEEG carefully enough to identify seizures by simply asking the patient and event markers, but fail to navigate through the entire recording phase, often resulting in the underdiagnosis of subclinical seizures and some seizures with mild clinical presentation. Again, the analysis of VEEG results is limited only to video and EEG observations per se and is not well integrated with the patient’s medical history and clinical data. Some important information such as the patient’s experience during the seizure (aura, etc.), changes in speech and consciousness, post-seizure Todd paresis and psychoneurological symptoms can only be fully grasped through direct bedside observation (seizure visit, seizure interview) can only be fully grasped. This information can complement well with the patient’s and family’s description of the seizure in the medical history.  It is important to note that LT-VEEG itself has limitations; some seizures (especially simple partial) are not always accompanied by scalp EEG changes, and it is difficult to record seizures in patients with sparse seizure frequency. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis can only be made by combining the EEG findings with the patient’s medical history and analyzing the correlation between EEG data and behavioral events simultaneously.