The unforeseen future: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on home video-EEG telemetry

Epilepsia. 2023 Dec:64 Suppl 4:S12-S22. doi: 10.1111/epi.17473. Epub 2022 Dec 18.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had widespread impact on health care systems globally-particularly services arranged around elective admission and attendance such as epilepsy monitoring units and home video-EEG telemetry (HVET). Here, we review the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on HVET services among several different providers who used different initial models of HVET. We discuss the features of HVET that led to success in providing continued diagnostic services to patients with epilepsy and related disorders and through retrospective audit of our services demonstrate the high diagnostic yield of HVET. We reflect on this unforeseen future and its implications for other diagnostic techniques and approaches.

Keywords: ambulatory video-EEG telemetry; home video-EEG telemetry; remote diagnosis; video-EEG telemetry.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Electroencephalography / methods
  • Epilepsy* / diagnosis
  • Epilepsy* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Telemetry / methods
  • Video Recording / methods