EEG IN COMA

EEG is useful for prognostication of coma. Burst suppression pattern is one of the patterns that is particularly ominous. At the same time , burst suppression is a lot better than a suppressed voltage, low amplitude tracing , because while the bursts are definitely abnormal , at least it means that there is enough surviving brain matter to produce those bursts. Hepatic encephalopathy, uremic encephalopathy etc produce what are known as triphasic waves and are useful for diagnostic purposes. Perhaps the most useful application for EEG in coma is in the identification of Herpes Encephalitis where the "PLEDs" are seen (periodic lateralized epileptiform activity).

RETURN TO INDEX
NEXT SECTION: EEG NORMAL VARIANTS
PREVIOUS SECTION: EEG IN APHASIA