EEC 2022 | How has the role of EEG in epilepsy changed over the years?

Lorenzo Ricci, MD, PhD Candidate, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy, shares his insights on how the role of EEG in epilepsy has changed over recent years. For many years, the widespread use of EEG has been limited to diagnostic use. The presence of interictal discharges or abnormal waveforms on visual inspection can be used to aid a physician in the diagnosis of an epilepsy syndrome. However, technological developments and the increased use of machine learning has improved the capacity of EEG for diagnosis by enabling quantitative measures and overcoming the limitations of inter-reader variability. Quantitative EEG can additionally be used prognostically. Treatment is currently guided by clinical presentation rather than electrographic markers, but if EEG can provide further information on epileptic burden and an individual’s likely treatment response, this may substantially improve patient outcomes. This interview took place at the 14th European Epilepsy Congress (EEC) 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.