Clinical Neurophysiology

Clinical Neurophysiology methods, especially EEG, provide valuable information for diagnosing the epilepsies, with specific patterns identified in many diseases requiring expert interpretation. We are focusing on practices and development of tools that integrate recent advances into EpiCARE centres and National Reference Networks.

PROMAESIS

This is the acronym for Prospective Multicenter-study on Automated EEG Source Imaging in epilepsy Surgery (NCT04218812). The data collection phase (n=392) has been completed, and all EEGs have been analysed (Epilog & BESA). The pre-surgical clinical data have been collected and currently we are waiting for the CRFs on the 1- year postoperative outcomes. The postoperative data are currently streaming in. One side-project on the automated / semi-automated detection of IEDs and the effect of spatial sampling has been published in July 2022 (Heers et al., Epilepsia 2022).

SCORE-EpiCARE

Since the last reporting, we have published a paper on seizure-duration, based on the large SCORE dataset (Meritam et al., Epilepsia 2023). An inter-rater agreement on periodic and rhythmic EEG patterns using SCORE is currently ongoing in several EpiCARE Centres. The inter-rater agreement is intended as a means of standardizing the recognition of these difficult-to-interpret patterns and improving the management of these challenging entities. The working group participated in regular online meetings and an increased knowledge of the SCORE program has been spread among EpiCARE centres. Nearly 300 EEGs have been collected, which will allow determining inter-rater agreement with higher numbers than previous studies in the literature, using a highly standardized program for the detection and classification of EEGs (SCORE). Future developments of the project have been discussed in the working group, including the possibility to consider the EEG material collected for educational purposes – to be developed and disseminated through EpiCARE.