Sections
Altered Mental Status | Loss of Language or Other Acquired Skills | Paroxysmal Events | Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
Excerpt
An EEG may be indicated to rule out nonconvulsive status epilepticus
or frequent nonconvulsive seizures. CNS infections, such as herpes
encephalitis manifesting with altered mental status, can have either
generalized or lateralizing periodic epileptiform discharges that
are not seizures but signify the ongoing disease process. Patients
who are in the postictal state may present similarly and may demonstrate
generalized or focal slowing on EEG. In general, the degree of slowing
of the EEG correlates with the severity of the clinical state.