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The diagnostic yield of electroencephalography (EEG) in hospitalized general medical patients has not been well-studied. To address this gap, researchers performed a retrospective analysis of data on 1048 adults who underwent inpatient EEG at an urban teaching hospital during a 6-year period; intubated patients and patients admitted electively for video EEG were excluded.
Half the EEGs were ordered to evaluate “spells,” the other half for altered mental status. Overall prevalence of seizures on EEG was 7%; an additional 13% had epileptiform discharges (markers of seizure potential). EEG was normal in 21% of patients; of the nearly 80% with abnormal findings, many exhibited diffuse slowing. In multivariate analysis, only two variables — intra…