Usefulness of video-EEG monitoring

Video-EEG (vEEG) was originally used in specialized centers as part of the evaluation for epilepsy surgery. It is now widely available and often utilized for other indications including: clarifying the nature of paroxysmal events, quantifying the frequency of seizures, and identifying the epilepsy syndrome. Ictal recordings can be obtained in children with refractory seizures during relatively brief studies (recordings lasting less than 24 h) in many circumstances. The information gleaned from an analysis of the ictal events can be very helpful in clarifying the true nature of the epilepsies. Several illustrative clinical cases will be briefly discussed to highlight these points.