Focal triphasic sharp waves and spikes in the electroencephalogram

Clinical variants of limbic encephalitis

The clinical picture of immunomediator disorders of the central nervous system resulting from autoimmune or paraneoplastic processes is often represented by the limbic symptom complex or limbic encephalitis. The article gives a brief description of these conditions, allocated to a separate nosological group in 2007. The symptoms of limbic encephalitis include mental disorders and epileptic seizures of both convulsive and non-convulsive spectrum, up to epileptic status. Four clinical cases representative of different variants of limbic encephalitis are presented in this study, along with the discussion of epidemiology, differential diagnostics, and generally accepted patient management strategies. The diagnosis of limbic encephalitis was made on clinical grounds alone in three cases and on the presence of antibodies to N-Methyl-d-aspartic acid receptors in one case. A combination of glucocorticoid pulse therapy with prolonged use of valproic acid was successfully applied for the treatment of limbic encephalitis with non-convulsive epileptic status. Plasmapheresis was used for the treatment of limbic encephalitis with recurrent focal non-motor attacks with and without loss of consciousness, as well as for limbic encephalitis with focal motor attacks. Presented cases emphasize the need to increase the awareness of physicians of various specialties to autoimmune disorders of the nervous system. In addition, it highlights the necessity of complete diagnostic workup for a patient with impaired consciousness of unclear etiology.

Atypical Interictal Epileptiform Discharges in Electroencephalography

Background and Purpose

A great deal of attention has been focused on “typical” interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in the electroencephalography (EEG) literature. However, there is a paucity of data on “atypical” IEDs, namely, positive sharp waves (PSWs), focal triphasic sharp waves and spikes (FTSWs), sharp slow waves (SSWs), bifid spikes, and “notched” delta. In this present study, we sought to address the pathophysiology, characteristics, and diagnostic significance of “atypical” IEDs in clinical neuroscience.

Methods

We prospectively reviewed the EEGs of 1,250 patients from a heterogeneous population over a period of 2 years. We also documented demographic, clinical, and neuroimaging data.

Results

Thirty-one patients had PSWs, 26 had FTSWs, 30 had SSWs, 24 had notched delta, and four had bifid spikes in their EEG data. Ninety-six percent of patients with PSWs had epilepsy whereas 100% of the FTSW and SSW groups had this diagnosis. In the ND group the rate of epilepsy was 95% and in the bifid spike group 75%. Accordingly, “atypical” IEDs are potentially epileptogenic patterns with localizing significance, occurring primarily in younger age groups. We also found that a significant number of these patients had congenital central nervous system anomalies.

Conclusions

We conclude that “atypical” IEDs are rare and under-reported EEG patterns that potentially signify focal epileptogenicity. Our data also stresses the significance of neuroimaging in investigating the possibility of an underlying congenital central nervous system anomaly in this population.

Can Chaotic Analysis of Electroencephalogram Aid the Diagnosis of Encephalopathy?

Chaotic analysis is a relatively novel area in the study of physiological signals. Chaotic features of electroencephalogram have been analyzed in various disease states like epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, sleep disorders, and depression. All these diseases have primary involvement of the brain. Our study examines the chaotic parameters in metabolic encephalopathy, where the brain functions are involved secondary to a metabolic disturbance. Our analysis clearly showed significant lower values for chaotic parameters, correlation dimension, and largest Lyapunov exponent for EEG in patients with metabolic encephalopathy compared to normal EEG. The chaotic features of EEG have been shown in previous studies to be an indicator of the complexity of brain dynamics. The smaller values of chaotic features for encephalopathy suggest that normal complexity of brain function is reduced in encephalopathy. To the best knowledge of the authors, no similar work has been reported on metabolic encephalopathy. This finding may be useful to understand the neurobiological phenomena in encephalopathy. These chaotic features are then utilized as feature sets for Support Vector Machine classifier to identify cases of encephalopathy from normal healthy subjects yielding high values of accuracy. Thus, we infer that chaotic measures are EEG parameters sensitive to functional alterations of the brain, caused by encephalopathy.

Sharp Slow Waves in the EEG

There exists a paucity of data in the EEG literature on characteristics of "atypical" interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), including sharp slow waves (SSWs). This article aims to address the clinical, neurophysiological, and neuropathological significance of SSW The EEGs of 920 patients at a tertiary-care facility were prospectively reviewed over a period of one year. Thirty-six patients had SSWs in their EEG. Of these, 6 patients were excluded because of inadequate clinical data. The clinical and neuroimaging data of the remaining 30 patients were then retrospectively collected and reviewed, and the findings were correlated. The data revealed that SSWs were rare and age-related EEG events occurring primarily in the first two decades of life. All patients with SSWs had documented epilepsy, presenting clinically with partial or generalized epilepsy. It is notable that one-third of the patients with SSWs had chronic or static central nervous system (CNS) pathology, particularly congenital CNS anomalies. Though more than one mechanism may be involved in the pathogenesis of SSWs, this research indicates that the most compelling theory is a deeply seated cortical generator giving rise to this EEG pattern. The presence of SSWs should alert clinicians to the presence of partial or generalized epilepsy or an underlying chronic or static CNS pathology, in particular congenital CNS anomalies, underscoring the significance of brain magnetic resonance imaging in the work-up of this population.