Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38981999›Full record

ArticleNeurocritical care2025

Evaluating the Impact of Point-of-Care Electroencephalography on Length of Stay in the Intensive Care Unit: Subanalysis of the SAFER-EEG Trial.

Masoom Desai, Mariel Kalkach-Aparicio, Irfan S Sheikh, Justine Cormier, Kaileigh Gallagher, Omar M Hussein, Jorge Cespedes, Lawrence J Hirsch, Brandon Westover, Aaron F Struck

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Neurocritical care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. High risk and low incidence diseases: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.The American journal of emergency medicine · 2025
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Masoom DesaiDepartment of Neurology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. mdesai@salud.unm.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-6316-8404
Mariel Kalkach-AparicioDepartment of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
Irfan S SheikhEpilepsy Division, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Justine CormierComprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Kaileigh GallagherEpilepsy Division, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Omar M HusseinComprehensive Epilepsy Team, Neurology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Jorge CespedesComprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Lawrence J HirschComprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Brandon WestoverDepartment of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Aaron F StruckDepartment of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundElectroencephalography (EEG) is needed to diagnose nonconvulsive seizures. Prolonged nonconvulsive seizures are associated with neuronal injuries and deleterious clinical outcomes. However, it is uncertain whether the rapid identification of these seizures using point-of-care EEG (POC-EEG) can have a positive impact on clinical outcomes.

methodsIn a retrospective subanalysis of the recently completed multicenter Seizure Assessment and Forecasting with Efficient Rapid-EEG (SAFER-EEG) trial, we compared intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), unfavorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score ≥ 4), and time to EEG between adult patients receiving a US Food and Drug Administration-cleared POC-EEG (Ceribell, Inc.) and those receiving conventional EEG (conv-EEG). Patient records from January 2018 to June 2022 at three different academic centers were reviewed, focusing on EEG timing and clinical outcomes. Propensity score matching was applied using key clinical covariates to control for confounders. Medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) were calculated for descriptive statistics. Nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U-test) were used for the continuous variables, and the χ

resultsA total of 283 ICU patients (62 conv-EEG, 221 POC-EEG) were included. The two populations were matched using demographic and clinical characteristics. We found that the ICU LOS was significantly shorter in the POC-EEG cohort compared to the conv-EEG cohort (3.9 [IQR 1.9-8.8] vs. 8.0 [IQR 3.0-16.0] days, p = 0.003). Moreover, modified Rankin Scale functional outcomes were also different between the two EEG cohorts (p = 0.047).

conclusionsThis study reveals a significant association between early POC-EEG detection of nonconvulsive seizures and decreased ICU LOS. The POC-EEG differed from conv-EEG, demonstrating better functional outcomes compared with the latter in a matched analysis. These findings corroborate previous research advocating the benefit of early diagnosis of nonconvulsive seizure. The causal relationship between the type of EEG and metrics of interest, such as ICU LOS and functional/clinical outcomes, needs to be confirmed in future prospective randomized studies.

Indexed as

ElectroencephalographyIntensive Care UnitsLength of StayOutcome Assessment, Health CarePoint-of-Care SystemsSeizuresAdultAgedCritical CareFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMulticenter Studies as TopicObservational Studies as TopicRetrospective StudiesAcute brain injuryClinical outcomesIntensive care unit length of stayLimited montage electroencephalographyNonconvulsive seizuresPoint-of-care electroencephalographyRapid electroencephalographyRetrospective subanalysisSAFER-EEG trialSeizures

Identifiers

PMID38981999

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.