Correlation of Psychiatric Diagnoses and EEG Findings: A Double-Blind Study of 184 Hospitalized Children
EDWARD R. RITVO M.D.1,
EDWARD M. ORNITZ M.D.1,
RICHARD D. WALTER M.D.2, , and
JOHN HANLEY M.D.3
1 Assistant professors of psychiatry, division of child psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
2 Associate professor of medicine, division of neurology, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
3 Assistant professor of psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
Clinical and EEG data were independently reevaluated for 184 children hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. No significant correlations were noted between clinical diagnoses and EEG findings. A uniform incidence (about 35 percent) of abnormal tracings was noted, irrespective of the clinical diagnoses, in children with specific CNS pathology or histories of conditions known to be associated with organic brain dysfunction. The necessity for obtaining more than one EEG examination and for recording from sleep was demonstrated.
