Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
EEG testing with light and breathing tricks helps diagnose epilepsy
By Brauer, Christina et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2012·Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Electroencephalographic recordings in dogs suffering from idiopathic and symptomatic epilepsy: diagnostic value of interictal short time EEG protocols supplemented by two activation techniques.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with epilepsy underwent short electroencephalogram (EEG) tests while under anesthesia to see if these tests could help diagnose their condition better. The study included 61 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (no known cause) and 28 with symptomatic epilepsy (caused by another issue). The tests found signs of abnormal brain activity in about a quarter of the dogs, but the results showed that these short EEG recordings weren't very effective for screening epilepsy. Overall, the findings suggest that while EEGs can sometimes detect issues, they may not be the best tool for diagnosing epilepsy in dogs.
People also search for: dog epilepsy diagnosis · EEG for dogs with seizures · symptoms of idiopathic epilepsy in dogs
Abstract
The diagnostic value of interictal short time electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in epileptic dogs under general anaesthesia with propofol and the muscle relaxant rocuronium bromide was investigated. Two activation techniques, namely photic stimulation and hyperventilation, were evaluated for their potential to enhance the diagnostic validity of these recordings. Sixty-one dogs suffering from idiopathic epilepsy and 28 dogs suffering from symptomatic epilepsy were included. Electroencephalograms were recorded using five subdermal EEG electrodes (F3, F4, Cz, O1 and O2). All 89 EEGs were analysed visually and 61 were also evaluated quantitatively with fast Fourier transformation. Interictal paroxysmal epileptiform activity was found in 25% of idiopathic and in 29% of symptomatic epileptic dogs. Quantitative analysis of the EEGs (qEEGs) detected significant differences of frequency analysis in single reading points without any continuous changes of frequency bands. A comparison between healthy and affected brain hemispheres in seven dogs with focal lesions of one hemisphere did not show any significant differences in qEEG analysis. qEEG was not more sensitive than visual evaluation. Despite the use of activation techniques, the results showed that short time EEG recordings in epileptic dogs can detect interictal epileptic activity in less than one third of all seizuring dogs and is not a useful screening method.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22099183/