Rapid-Response EEG in Children With Suspected Status Epilepticus

Description

Seizures are common in children (\~350 per 100,000 patients per year) and require immediate medical attention. If the seizure is prolonged (\> 5 minutes) it is called status epilepticus and delayed treatment leads to higher risk in drug resistance and brain injury. The current standard of care for children admitted to the ICU with established or suspected status epilepticus is to start a conventional continuous EEG study that helps diagnosing seizures by typical electro graphic patterns. It takes on average 4 hours to start and another two hours to obtain a reading by epileptologists. This is far beyond the time window of starting an EEG study (60 minutes) as recommended by the neurocritical care society. In adult ICUs, point of care "Rapid Response EEG" are becoming a new standard of care and our ICU adopted this practice in 2020. It can be easily placed by the ICU staff rather than a specifically trained EEG technician but has a lower resolution due to fewer leads (10 vs. 20). The purpose of this study is to determine wether and by how much time RR-EEG yields faster preliminary EEG reports that the previously available conventional EEG (cEEG) and wether the detection of electro graphic seizures is comparable. This is a retrospective cohort study following patients who are admitted to the PICU and are placed on either cEEG or RR-EEG for status epilepticus.

Conditions

Status Epilepticus, Coma

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Seizures are common in children (\~350 per 100,000 patients per year) and require immediate medical attention. If the seizure is prolonged (\> 5 minutes) it is called status epilepticus and delayed treatment leads to higher risk in drug resistance and brain injury. The current standard of care for children admitted to the ICU with established or suspected status epilepticus is to start a conventional continuous EEG study that helps diagnosing seizures by typical electro graphic patterns. It takes on average 4 hours to start and another two hours to obtain a reading by epileptologists. This is far beyond the time window of starting an EEG study (60 minutes) as recommended by the neurocritical care society. In adult ICUs, point of care "Rapid Response EEG" are becoming a new standard of care and our ICU adopted this practice in 2020. It can be easily placed by the ICU staff rather than a specifically trained EEG technician but has a lower resolution due to fewer leads (10 vs. 20). The purpose of this study is to determine wether and by how much time RR-EEG yields faster preliminary EEG reports that the previously available conventional EEG (cEEG) and wether the detection of electro graphic seizures is comparable. This is a retrospective cohort study following patients who are admitted to the PICU and are placed on either cEEG or RR-EEG for status epilepticus.

Observational Single-Center Study: Improving Timely Detection of Electrographic Seizures by Use of Rapid-Response EEG in Children With Suspected Status Epilepticus Admitted to the Pediatric ICU

Rapid-Response EEG in Children With Suspected Status Epilepticus

Condition
Status Epilepticus
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Bronx

Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, New York, United States, 10467

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * all patients with suspected status epilepticus as determined by the treating team in the pediatric ER or ICU
  • * none

Ages Eligible for Study

2 Years to 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

Children's Hospital at Montefiore,

Study Record Dates

2026-12-08