Role of the intracarotid amobarbital-pentylenetetrazol EEG test in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with complex seizure problems.

The results of surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy seizures in a group of patients investigated with the intracarotid amobarbital-pentylenetetrazol EEG test were analyzed. This diagnostic test, originally designed to distinguish a mechanism of primary from that of secondary bilateral synchrony in the EEG was also used in a small group of patients with independent bilateral temporal epileptiform spiking. The test has been carried out in 99 patients of which 34 were operated on. Not all the operated patients fulfilled the test criteria for secondary bilateral synchrony.