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someone please help interpret my EEG results?
Mon, 09/25/2006 - 20:50Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
I had a sleep deprived EEG to rule out Temporal Seizures. The neurologist said it was abnormal but "non-specific" and wants more testing. I'm scheduled for 72 hour ambulatory EEG in mid October. I'm confused, I thought an EEG was a definitive test?...what does this mean?
Here is the report:
Diagnosis: Mildly abnormal due to occasional left temporal sharp waves.
Report: The background in waking shows an up to 10Hz moderate voltage reactive alpha posteriorly with a gradient to lower voltage mixed alpha and beta anteriorly. Rare low to moderate voltage sharp waves are seen in the left temporal region. These are suspicious but not definitely epileptic. There is no abnormal activation to hyperventilation. In sleep, vertex waves and spindles are present bilaterally.
Clinical Correlation: The few left temporal sharp waves seen here may represent a lowered seizure threshold although the finding is not definite and would need to be correlated with the patient's clinical symptoms. If the diagnosi remains in doubt additional EEG may be helpful.
Comments
Re: Re: someone please help interpret my EEG results?
Submitted by wldhrt13 on Tue, 2006-09-26 - 13:47
thank you for your reply. what you said made perfect sense when you said,"sounds like you have brain waves that spike more than normal, but not as much as someone they would typically diagnose with epilepsy." I was thinking in terms of the results being either positive or negative. But now I see it could also vary in intensity, duration, frequency etc...and thank you to give me an idea of what the 72 hr. test will entail. all they told me was to press a red button if I have an "event" while I'm hooked up. while I did hyperventilate with no symptoms, when they flashed the different lights, there was one particular sequence or shall I say pace between flashes that did evoke some sensory symptoms. If I may ask, what kind of symptoms have you had that led to this testing?
Re: someone please help interpret my EEG results?
Submitted by fzMousie on Tue, 2006-09-26 - 08:14
I had a normal EEG, which I was not given to look at or read. Same with my MRI, which showed some cysts but nothing apparently abnormal.
Nevertheless, I was diagnosed and am being treated for temporal lobe epilepsy.
An EEG is not definitive.
Re: someone please help interpret my EEG results?
Submitted by michelhead on Tue, 2006-09-26 - 06:31
An EEG is not necessarily a definitive test. Sometimes, those who are epileptic can have normal EEG's if they are not showing abnormal brain activity at the time of the EEG. Although I am no doctor, it sounds like you have brain waves that spike more than normal, but not as much as someone they would typically diagnose with epilepsy. For some people hyperventalation causes seizures or epileptic brain waves, but yours was normal through that part of the test. From my understanding, they usually ask the doctor to see if the patient's symptoms make sense with the diagnosis that they are giving as a result of the EEG interpretation. I have just had the ambulatory EEG a couple weeks ago, they just make you walk around hooked up to the EEG electrodes for a specified amount of time, in your case 72 hours. This should give them more time to evaluate if there is anything abnormal or if it is normal for you, instead of the thirty or so minute typical EEG. Hopefully this helps, if you have any other questions, let me know. I am just going through the diagnosis part myself.