MULTIMODALITY NEUROMONITORING FOR NEUROCARDIOLOGY

Neurophysiologic monitoring, including quantitative EEG, transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound and transcranial near-infrared spectroscopy ( NIRS), can be of diagnostic value in neurocardiology--the study of dys functional bl ain-heart relationships. A new multivariate EEG techniqu e bispectral analysis, enables the cardiologist to objectively and pre cisely document transient episodes of syncope and seizure. TCD permits precise determination of the nature and extent of cerebral hemodynami c irregularities, while NIRS detects frontal lobe imbalance in the del ivery and consumption of oxygen. These powerful new neurophysiologic f ools, coupled with traditional systemic hemodynamic and electrocardiog raphic measures, will undoubtedly improve the diagnostic yield in the complex determination of the causes of syncope and cardiac-based confu sional stales. (J Interven Cardiol 1998;11:197-204).