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We evaluated the occurrence and distribution of patterns of catamenial epilepsy in a heterogenous cohort of women with epilepsy on no hormonal therapies, enrolled in a prospective, observational study. The primary aim of the study was pregnancy rate in women with epilepsy with no prior reproductive problems. In this analysis, we included women who recorded one or more menstrual cycles with one or more seizures. We measured progesterone concentrations for one to three cycles. We defined catamenial patterns as twofold or greater average daily seizure frequency around menstruation (C1), ovulation (C2), and for anovulatory cycles, from midcycle through menstruation (C3). Twenty‐three of the 89 enrolled women with epilepsy were eligible for this analysis; 12 of 23 met criteria for catamenial epilepsy; five of 23 demonstrated only a C1 pattern, two of 23 only a C2 pattern, five of 23 a combined C1/C2 pattern, and the one woman with anovulatory cycles did not demonstrate a C3 pattern. There were no differences in likelihood of demonstrating a catamenial pattern between those who reported a prior catamenial pattern and those who did not (p =.855). This analysis demonstrates the utility of app‐based tracking to determine a catamenial pattern. Larger prospective studies could confirm these findings and inform potential therapeutic trial designs for catamenial epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine if continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) results are associated with functional outcome and survival in critically ill patients with intraparenchymal hemorrhages (IPH).Methods: Patients diagnosed with IPH were selected using a Critical Care EEG Monitoring Consortium Database at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Functional Outcome in Patients with Primary Intracerebral Hemorrhage (FUNC) scores and Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) scores were calculated as covariates. Outcomes of interest were functional outcome (modified Rankin scale [mRS] <3 vs ≥3) and mortality at hospital discharge. cEEG features, as defined by the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society standard terminology, were assessed for association with outcome after accounting for known clinical covariates.Results: A total of 94 patients admitted between March 2013 and December 2015 were selected. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the presence of Stage II Sleep is independently associated with good functional outcome at discharge after correcting for FUNC (p = 0.0080) and ICH (p = 0.0088). The absence of anteroposterior (AP) gradient in an EEG is associated with increased likelihood of mortality at discharge after correcting for FUNC (p = 0.013) and ICH (p = 0.019) scores.Conclusions: cEEG measures were significantly associated with functional and mortality outcome measures in patients with IPH even after accounting for known clinical and radiological covariates. Further research is needed to determine whether prediction models are improved by inclusion of cEEG features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Administrative billing codes for electrical cardioversion and ablation/maze procedures may be useful for research on atrial fibrillation (AF) progression and treatment if the codes are sufficiently accurate relative to medical record documentation. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that administrative billing codes for electrical cardioversion and ablation/maze procedures would accurately identify the occurrence of those procedures. Methods: We studied adults ages 30-84 years who experienced new onset AF between 10/2001 and 12/2004, and were patients in Group Health, an integrated healthcare system in Washington state. Using medical record review as the gold standard, we assessed the accuracy of administrative billing codes for detecting the occurrence of electrical cardioversion and ablation/maze procedures. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for each billing code separately, and collectively for each procedure. Results: Of 1953 study participants with new onset AF, during a mean of 1.5 (SD 0.7) years of follow-up after AF onset, 470 (24%) experienced electrical cardioversion and 44 (2%) experienced ablation/maze procedures according to medical records. For cardioversion, CPT code 92960 performed better than ICD-9 codes 99.61 and 99.62, with higher sensitivity, PPV, and NPV, but slightly lower specificity. For ablation/maze, CPT code 93651 and ICD-9 code 37.34 performed identically, yielding higher sensitivity and PPV than ICD-9 code 37.33. For cardioversion and ablation/maze procedures, combining three codes improved sensitivity and NPV while maintaining high specificity and PPV relative to individual codes. (See Table.) Conclusions: Administrative billing data accurately identify electrical cardioversion and ablation/maze procedures, and can be used in place of medical record review. Our findings apply to integrated health systems or other settings where administrative billing databases are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]