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Twenty-four comatose patients were studied by 16-hour compressed spectral array (CSA), made from four-channel portable EEG recordings. Causes of coma included head injury (15), anoxia (6), and brainstem strokes (3). CSA was classified on the basis of frequency and alternating or nonalternating patterns. Alternating CSA was significantly associated with survival (p less than 0.005) in the head-injured and anoxic group combined, and in the head-injured subgroup (p less than 0.013). The prognostic value of CSA equaled the Glasgow Coma Scale or neurologic examination and occasionally added prognostic information.

A review of clinical data from 18 pediatric patients with periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges and bilateral independent periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs and BIPLEDs) showed 2 with chronic neurologic illness, 6 with a history of prior seizures, 14 with depressed sensorium at the time of EEG, 5 deaths, and 8 of 13 survivors with neurologic deficits. These findings are similar to the combined data from reports involving adult patients only. Separating pediatric patients with PLEDs from those with BIPLEDs shows some influence from patients with BIPLEDs. Overall, our data do not suggest significant clinical differences for PLEDs between children and adults.

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