Abstract
The diagnosis of epilepsy is at times elusive for both neurologists and nonneurologists, resulting in delays in diagnosis and therapy. The development of screening methods has been identified as a priority in response to this diagnostic and therapeutic gap. EpiFinder is a novel clinical decision support tool designed to enhance the process of information gathering and integration of patient/proxy respondent data. It is designed specifically to take key terms from a patient's history and incorporate them into a heuristic algorithm that dynamically produces differential diagnoses of epilepsy syndromes.The objective of this study was to test the usability and diagnostic accuracy of the clinical decision support application EpiFinder in an adult population.Fifty-seven patients were prospectively identified upon admission to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) for episode classification from January through June of 2017. Based on semiologic input, the application generates a list of epilepsy syndromes. The EpiFinder-generated diagnosis for each subject was compared to the final diagnosis obtained via continuous video electroencephalogram (cVEEG) monitoring.Fifty-three patients had habitual events recorded during their EMU stay. A diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed (with cVEEG monitoring) in 26 patients while 27 patients were found to have a diagnosis other than epilepsy. The algorithm appropriately predicted differentiation between the presence of an epilepsy syndrome and an alternative diagnosis with 86.8% (46/53 participants) accuracy. EpiFinder correctly identified the presence of epilepsy with a sensitivity of 86.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 65.0–97.1) and specificity of 85.1% (95% CI: 70.2–96.4).The initial testing of the EpiFinder algorithm suggests possible utility in differentiating between an epilepsy syndrome and an alternative diagnosis in adult patients.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
