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How relative is the interpretation of an EEG?
Mon, 04/02/2007 - 18:38Hi.
I have had two abnormal EEGs spaced 1 year apart at a local/regional hospital. My Neuro affiliated with that hospital has diagnosed me with Epilepsy/Complex Partial Seizures.
Approximately a year ago, I had some VEEG monitoring done at Massachusetts General Hospital Epilepsy unit and it was entirely normal. Obviously with this kind of diagnosis I want a second opinion. The Epilepsy unit at MGH wants to see me again but needs to see the actual EEG, which for some bizarre technical reason my local hospital cannot provide. They have told me this will likely be problematic because the entire discussion will "rest on the interpretation of those EEGs".
My question is: does anyone know whether EEGs are often interpreted differently? If so, why?
Thanks for your support!
erin
Re: How relative is the interpretation of an EEG?
Submitted by xlarissa on Sun, 2007-04-08 - 16:36
I am new at all this -- since I have had only one to three seizures, and the last a month and a half ago and haven't even been completely diagnosed -- but my one eeg has been read differently by different doctors. The doctor at the lab said "not clearly epileptoform, get MRI to rule out leison" neuro #2 said "50% chance of another seizure, go on drug," neuro #3 said "could be related to migraine aura w/out migraine pain, go off drug, get another eeg." so they were looking at the same test and seeing different things. Neuro #4 (OK, so I haven't found anybody I liked yet) said that in some cases, such as mine, it can be really difficult to interpret the eeg, and that in particular the short eegs don't yield a lot of information. The person who gave me the eeg told me "ALWAYS get a copy of your eeg, and never give it away. Bring copies when you see doctors." She made me my own printout. It's too late to say that to you, but in the future, I would definitely say don't trust those hospitals to know where your files are. Bizarre technical reason indeed.