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The nonspecificity of electroencephalographic triphasic waves: The emperor defrocked
Author(s) -
Conn Harold O.,
Levy Lewis L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840090231
Subject(s) - hepatic encephalopathy , electroencephalography , encephalopathy , medicine , longitudinal study , photic stimulation , audiology , psychology , cardiology , neuroscience , pathology , visual perception , cirrhosis , perception
A blind analysis of 56 EEGs with triphasic wave patterns was performed to determine the diagnostic specificity of individual electrographic features. EEG and clinical variables analyzed included longitudinal topography, phase lags, symmetry, background activity, reactivity, longitudinal bipolar phase reversal sites, responses to photic stimulation and mental status at the time of recording. The only statistically significant finding for any of the diagnostic groups tested was the presence of severe background slowing in cases of hepatic encephalopathy ( P <0.001). We found no evidence to suggest that other features may contribute to a more highly characteristic pattern for hepatic encephalopathy. None of the features studied reliably distinguished hepatic encephalopathy from other forms of metabolic encephalopathy.