Pathological EEG Findings in the Patients with the First Seizure Admitted to the Emergency Department.

Introduction: Statistics suggest that a minimum of 4% of the general population experience one or more nonfebrile seizures in their lifetime. Continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring is an effective diagnostic tool for seizure detection. The present study aimed to investigate the EEG findings in the patients with the first seizure referring to the emergency department (ED). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 80 patients with the first seizure admitted to the ED who were selected via convenience sampling. The inclusion criteria were age of more than 17 years, first seizure, and providing written informed consent to participate, and the exclusion criterion was the cases in which seizure was not confirmed by a neurologist. EEG was performed in the ED on the patients within 24 hours after the first attack, and the frequency of pathological changes in the EEG findings was determined. Data analysis was performed in SPSS using descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and dispersion, frequency distribution) and inferential statistics. Results: In total, the sample population consisted of 35 male patients (43.8%) and 45 female patients (56.2%). The mean age of the patients was 52.54±19.33 years (median: 53 years). Among the patients, 46 cases (57.5%) had normal EEG findings, while 34 cases (42.5%) had abnormal (pathological) EEG findings. Conclusion: According to the results, 42.5% of the patients had abnormal EEG findings. However, accurate examinations in this regard may require other diagnostic tools along with EEG in order to confirm the diagnosis of epilepsy and seizure in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]