The Significance of Sleep Electroencephalography in Demonstrating Epileptiform Pathology

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to investigate the superiority of examining sleep electroencephalography (EEG) of patients with normal routine EEGs in detecting pathological activity.
METHODS: In this study, sleep EEGs of 138 patients, who had previously undergone routine EEG examination and had normal results, conducted at Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital EEG Laboratory between January 1st, 2022 and January 1st, 2023, were analyzed.
RESULTS: A total of 138 patients’ sleep EEGs were evaluated in the study, with 70 (50.8%) of them being female. Among these, 26 (18.8%) showed pathological findings. Among the 26 patients with pathological sleep EEGs (13 females), 23 (88.5%) had a diagnosis of Epilepsy, and 21 (80.8%) were using antiseizure medication. Among the pathological EEGs, 5 (19.2%) showed organization disorder, 7 (26.9%) showed non-specific slow wave paroxysms, 6 (23.1%) showed focal epileptiform discharges, and 8 (30.8%) showed generalized epileptiform discharges.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Time is crucial in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Conducting sleep EEG alongside routine EEG can contribute to the diagnosis, determination of seizure type, and early initiation of treatment.

Keywords: Electroencephalography, seizure, sleep.