A BSTRACT Background: Global developmental delay (GDD) is a common pediatric condition with multiple etiologies. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is commonly used, when there is a clinical suspicion of seizures in GDD, which provide treatment options and a prognosis. Aims: To study the prevalence of EEGs findings in pediatric patients presenting with GDD and to examine the use of abnormal EEGs assessment in children with GDD. Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study. Settings: Pediatric neurology clinic at king Fahad specialist hospital in Dammam (KFSHD), Saudi Arabia. Methods and Materials: The data consist of brain EEGs of 110 patients who were referred by the pediatric neurology department from February 2016 to April 2018. The data entered and analyzed by using Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Results: The sample is a total of 110 pediatric patients, 59 males and 51 females, who were diagnosed with developmental delay. The mean age of children with abnormal EEG findings was 22.5 months ± 60.5, with a range of three months to 12 years. The oldest age group was five to 12 years, with a P value of 0.001. Seventy-nine percent of the participants had abnormal EEGs; 20.90% had normal EEGs. In 53 patients (61%), the EEG plays an important role in the clinical assessment that was confirmed by further investigation; the P value for this finding was 0.001. Conclusion: An EEG played important role to classify seizures in children with GDD. Brain EEGs can demonstrate the association of brain anomalies with the etiologies of GDD and increase the rate of positive outcomes for children with GDD.
AlBaradie et al. (Wed,) studied this question.