EEG in dialysis encephalopathy.

Electroencephalography (EEG) in dialysis encephalopathy (DE) was investigated by collecting 173 EEGs from 77 dialyzed patients; 26 had DE. An attempt was made to predict the DE patients, as opposed to the control group without DE, on the basis of EEG alone. Based on the presence or absence of bilateral spike and wave complexes, 91% of the patients along with 91% of their EEGs were correctly placed into the proper clinical category. Also, diffuse slow waves, usually seen in bursts maximal on the frontal areas, appeared in the DE group significantly more often and also with a greater degree of abnormality than in the non-DE group. Considerable variability was noted in the EEGs of these patients. The bilateral spike and wave complexes were discused as an EEG marker of dialysis encephalopathy, which now seems to be related etiologically to aluminum toxicity.