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What Does EEG Showing Sharp Waves Indicate?

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Posted on Wed, 3 Jun 2015
Question: FOLLOW UP: My most recent eeg showed some sharp waves but was not specific for seizure disorder and recommended mri for correlation which I already had and send results to you. The Mri was unchanged from 4 years ago.
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Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (24 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Are you being followed by a neurologist?

Detailed Answer:
Hello there young lady.....thank you very much for having confidence in my answers and redirect your question to my care to answer.

I understand that your EEG done most recently shows some sharp waves but was not read as being consistent with an epileptiform picture. Also, the MRI is unchanged from 4 years ago.

Please give me the bulleted list of what your symptoms are now that have been bothering you. Let's compare these symptoms to how you felt let's say 6-12 months ago.

Are you continuing to have migraine headaches? Are you able to upload copies of the EEG and MRI reports to this website?

If you are continuing to have migraine headaches then, one of the first things I would suggest in order to start getting a better handle on these episodes is to start the process of filling out a HEADACHE DIARY or LOG so that we can start tracking her episodes and determining if worsening of her symptoms could be due to worsening of any other symptoms such as headaches, difficulty with speech, or writing, etc.

We have to be careful when reading spike discharges or "spike waves" because there a number of things that cause this showing such as medications, fatigue, anxiety, and altered states of consciousness.

And so I believe the most efficient and least invasive form of treatment/therapy for you with this picture of an EEG that shows some "sharp waves" is to determine just what's causing the sharp waves to begin with as I mentioned above and THEN, moving to TREAT THEM...otherwise, someone may get really precocious and label you as having seizure disorder. Make sense?

Therefore, can you:

1. Get the last EEG report and upload it to this set of questions.
2. Can you get an MRI of the brain which also should be done with GADOLINIUM contrast?
3. If there are clear and present changes in how you feel over the past 6-12 months, or that your behavior has somehow changed then, I believe we need to get at least the reports that were read and post them so I can look at the most recent one including any imaging studies you've had as well.

In looking over your symptoms from the last report I would conclude that there is a possible chance that the presence of the sharp waves themselves may be contributing to some of your symptoms. However, we have to be able to know that these sharp waves are really doing something negatively even though they've read as NOT EPILEPSY.

f this answer satisfactorily addresses your question then, I'd appreciate the favor of a HIGH STAR RATING with some written feedback on your part.

Also, CLOSING THE QUERY on your end (if there are no further comments) will be most helpful and appreciated so that this question can be transacted and archived expeditiously for further reference by colleagues as necessary.

Please keep me informed as to the outcome of your situation by writing me at: bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi

All the best

The query has required a total of 22 minutes of physician specific time to read, research, and compile a return envoy to the patient.
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dariush Saghafi

Neurologist

Practicing since :1988

Answered : 2473 Questions

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What Does EEG Showing Sharp Waves Indicate?

Brief Answer: Are you being followed by a neurologist? Detailed Answer: Hello there young lady.....thank you very much for having confidence in my answers and redirect your question to my care to answer. I understand that your EEG done most recently shows some sharp waves but was not read as being consistent with an epileptiform picture. Also, the MRI is unchanged from 4 years ago. Please give me the bulleted list of what your symptoms are now that have been bothering you. Let's compare these symptoms to how you felt let's say 6-12 months ago. Are you continuing to have migraine headaches? Are you able to upload copies of the EEG and MRI reports to this website? If you are continuing to have migraine headaches then, one of the first things I would suggest in order to start getting a better handle on these episodes is to start the process of filling out a HEADACHE DIARY or LOG so that we can start tracking her episodes and determining if worsening of her symptoms could be due to worsening of any other symptoms such as headaches, difficulty with speech, or writing, etc. We have to be careful when reading spike discharges or "spike waves" because there a number of things that cause this showing such as medications, fatigue, anxiety, and altered states of consciousness. And so I believe the most efficient and least invasive form of treatment/therapy for you with this picture of an EEG that shows some "sharp waves" is to determine just what's causing the sharp waves to begin with as I mentioned above and THEN, moving to TREAT THEM...otherwise, someone may get really precocious and label you as having seizure disorder. Make sense? Therefore, can you: 1. Get the last EEG report and upload it to this set of questions. 2. Can you get an MRI of the brain which also should be done with GADOLINIUM contrast? 3. If there are clear and present changes in how you feel over the past 6-12 months, or that your behavior has somehow changed then, I believe we need to get at least the reports that were read and post them so I can look at the most recent one including any imaging studies you've had as well. In looking over your symptoms from the last report I would conclude that there is a possible chance that the presence of the sharp waves themselves may be contributing to some of your symptoms. However, we have to be able to know that these sharp waves are really doing something negatively even though they've read as NOT EPILEPSY. f this answer satisfactorily addresses your question then, I'd appreciate the favor of a HIGH STAR RATING with some written feedback on your part. Also, CLOSING THE QUERY on your end (if there are no further comments) will be most helpful and appreciated so that this question can be transacted and archived expeditiously for further reference by colleagues as necessary. Please keep me informed as to the outcome of your situation by writing me at: bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi All the best The query has required a total of 22 minutes of physician specific time to read, research, and compile a return envoy to the patient.