EEG with burst suppression

What it means

The burst suppression pattern in electroencephalography refers to a characteristic periodic pattern of low voltage (<10 microvolts) suppressed background and a relatively shorter pattern of higher amplitude slow, sharp, and spiking complexes.

Burst suppression can occur in a generalized or lateralized distribution and is often a sign of severe encephalopathy. Generally, an interburst interval of 30 seconds or less is associated with a better prognosis than longer interburst intervals (>30 sec). Burst suppression is an electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern in which high voltage activity (burst) and flatline (suppression) periods alternate systematically but quasiperiodically (almost periodic but with variations in inter- and intra-burst duration) is a state of profound brain inactivation.

Rare diseases that can present with this10

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category