Routine EEG, long-term EEG, sleep deprivation EEG, inpatient video EEG monitoring
Electroencephalography can directly show the tendency of the brain to suffer an epileptic discharges. During EEG, a nurse or a doctor attaches electrodes to the patient´s scalp, which receive electrical impulses from the cerebral cortex. If epilepsy is suspected, a routine EEG provokes epilepsy by hyperventilation and flickering lights.
Within the scope of first diagnostics, EEG serves to localize the focal region in the brain that causes epilepsy in case of focal seizures. Specific questions also may require long-term EEG (e.g., 24 hours), EEG during sleep deprivation or EEG with simultaneous video recording.
An early EEG after an epileptic seizure enables the neurologist to see changes in the wavelengths of the brain, localized slow-downs or waves typical for a certain kind of epilepsy.