Chapter 8 The Structure and Philosophy of the EEG Report
TECHNICAL SUMMARY
The next three sections represent the core of the EEG report and are produced by the interpreting electroencephalographer. These include a description of the appearance and findings of the EEG, a summary of the findings or interpretation of the EEG (which may include an “abnormality list”), and a clinical correlation paragraph discussing the clinical implications of the findings. Each of these sections is now discussed in more detail.
DESCRIPTION
A good description allows a second electroencephalographer either to confirm the identifications of waveforms given in the interpretation paragraph or perhaps to disagree with them. For instance, if low-voltage sharps waves in sleep in the occipital areas with positive polarity were described as epileptiform activity, such a description may lead a second (more experienced) electroencephalographer to reject this interpretation and reidentify them as POSTS (positive occipital sharp transients of sleep), a normal variant (see Chapter 11, “Normal Variants in the EEG,” for further discussion of POSTS). Formally, the description paragraph should consist of pure description of the visual appearance of the EEG; conclusions as to whether a described wave is normal or abnormal are not absolutely required in this paragraph and would usually appear in the interpretation section. In practice, for clarity’s sake, some readers will flag findings as normal or abnormal in the description, especially if there are multiple findings, so that the message of the report is as clear as possible.