OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the occurrence and morphology of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in scalp-EEG change by age. METHODS 10,547 patients who had a standard or sleep deprived EEG recording reported using the SCORE standard were included. 875 patients had at least one EEG with focal IEDs. Focal IED morphology was analyzed by age using quantitative measures in EEGLAB and by visual classification based on the SCORE standard. We present distributions of IED measures by age group, with medians, interquartiles, 5th and 95th percentiles. RESULTS Focal IEDs occurred most frequently in children and elderly. IED morphology and localization depended on age (p < 0.001). IEDs had higher amplitudes, sharper peaks, larger slopes, shorter durations, larger slow-wave areas and wider distributions in children. These morphological characteristics diminished and the IEDs became more lateralized with increasing age. Spike asymmetry was stable across all age groups. CONCLUSIONS IEDs have age-dependent characteristics. A spike detector, human or computer, should not operate with the same set of thresholds for patients at various age. With increasing age, focal IEDs are less sharp, have lower amplitudes, have less prominent slow-waves and they become more lateralized. Our findings can help EEG readers in detecting and correctly describing IEDs in patients of various age. SIGNIFICANCE EEG readers should always consider patient age when interpreting interictal epileptiform discharges.

中文翻译：

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发作间期癫痫样放电因年龄组而异

目的探讨头皮脑电图发作间期癫痫样放电（IEDs）的发生和形态是否随年龄而变化。方法 10,547 名使用 SCORE 标准报告的标准或睡眠剥夺 EEG 记录的患者被包括在内。875 名患者至少有一个带有局灶性 IED 的 EEG。使用 EEGLAB 中的定量测量和基于 SCORE 标准的视觉分类按年龄分析局灶性 IED 形态。我们按年龄组展示了 IED 测量的分布，包括中位数、四分位数、第 5 和第 95 个百分位数。结果 局灶性简易爆炸装置最常发生在儿童和老人身上。IED 形态和定位取决于年龄（p < 0.001）。IED 具有更高的振幅、更尖的峰值、更大的斜率、更短的持续时间、更大的慢波区域和更广泛的儿童分布。随着年龄的增长，这些形态特征减弱，简易爆炸装置变得更加偏侧化。尖峰不对称在所有年龄组中都是稳定的。结论 IED 具有与年龄相关的特征。对于不同年龄的患者，尖峰检测器，无论是人还是计算机，都不应该使用相同的阈值集。随着年龄的增长，局灶性 IED 的锐度降低，振幅降低，慢波不那么突出，并且变得更加偏侧。我们的发现可以帮助 EEG 阅读器检测和正确描述不同年龄患者的 IED。意义 EEG 阅读器在解释发作间期癫痫样放电时应始终考虑患者年龄。对于不同年龄的患者，尖峰检测器，无论是人还是计算机，都不应该使用相同的阈值集。随着年龄的增长，局灶性 IED 的锐度降低，振幅降低，慢波不那么突出，并且变得更加偏侧。我们的发现可以帮助 EEG 阅读器检测和正确描述不同年龄患者的 IED。意义 EEG 阅读器在解释发作间期癫痫样放电时应始终考虑患者年龄。对于不同年龄的患者，尖峰检测器，无论是人还是计算机，都不应该使用相同的阈值集。随着年龄的增长，局灶性 IED 的锐度降低，振幅降低，慢波不那么突出，并且变得更加偏侧。我们的发现可以帮助 EEG 阅读器检测和正确描述不同年龄患者的 IED。意义 EEG 阅读器在解释发作间期癫痫样放电时应始终考虑患者年龄。