Clinical utility of home videos for diagnosing epileptic seizures: a systematic review and practical recommendations for optimal and safe recording

Abstract

Background The aim of the present systematic revision is to analyze existing published reports about the use of home-videos recordings (HVRs) to support physicians in the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal seizure-like episodes (PSLE). We also developed practical recommendations in order to ensure adequate quality standards and safety advice for HVRs. Material and methods A comprehensive search of PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar was performed, and results were included up to July 2020. All studies concerning the use of HVRs as a diagnostic tool for patients presenting PSLE were included.Results Seventeen studies satisfied all inclusion and exclusion criteria and were considered for the review. A consistent boost in diagnostic and clinical decision-making was reported across all studies in the literature. One study found that HVRs decreased the stress level in many families and improved their quality of life. Training in performing good-quality videos is necessary and increases the diagnostic value of HVRs. Conclusions HVRs can be of diagnostic value in epilepsy diagnosis and management. HVRs are low cost, widespread, and may provide great support for neurologists. It is important to train patients and caregivers in performing good quality videos to optimize this useful tool and to guarantee safety standards during the recording.

Patients With Epilepsy Who Underwent Epilepsy Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic Showed Less Depressive Tendencies

“…As interventions in medical treatments, including for epilepsy, have a certain order of priority ( 22 ), some PWE might be classified as having non-urgent disorders ( 23 ), despite they might have severe conditions such as COVID-19-related status epilepticus ( 24 ). However, using advanced technologies such as telemetry ( 10 , 25 ), home-video recordings ( 26 ) and tele-neuropsychology tests ( 27 ) should be implemented to maximize efficient provision of appropriate medical interventions.…”

Clinical utility of a video/audio-based epilepsy monitoring system Nelli

“…Although several wearable devices have been developed to aid in counting and characterizing seizure events, these devices lack strong clinical evidence for their accuracy and are not always well tolerated, especially in children or patients with intellectual disability, thus creating a need for automated seizure detection devices, especially those capable of video monitoring at patients' homes [13]. Recently, there has been increasing interest in videos taken by family members/caregivers with smartphones, which are easy to use, cost-effective, and collect large amounts of information regarding seizure semiology for patients with multiple indications [14].…”

Governance of the clinical pathway and management of the patient suffering from epilepsy and drug-resistant epilepsy

“…The risk of misdiagnosis is still very high if we consider that about 20% of patients presenting to centres specialized in E surgery have an erroneous diagnosis or suffer from seizure recurrence due to wrong therapeutic management (33). This initial diagnostic mistake is the starting point of a diagnostic and therapeutic odyssey with increasing healthcare costs for the national sanitary system (34), other than E-related psychological and psychosocial consequences (26). This scenario is quite common because the initial diagnosis of E is often made by a clinician without specific education in E.…”