Hermándy-Berencz Katalin, Kis Luca, Gombos Ferenc, Paulina Anna, Kis Anna
HUNREN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.
Klapka Animal Health Centre, 2092 Budakeszi, Hungary.
Vet Sci. 2025 Aug 13;12(8):758. doi: 10.3390/vetsci12080758.
In addition to characteristic and easily identifiable behavioural signs-namely epileptic seizures-electroencephalography (EEG) has long been a standard component of epilepsy diagnosis protocols. In veterinary practice, EEG is typically performed in a semi-invasive manner, using subcutaneous electrodes and sedation. Here, we propose that the non-invasive polysomnography protocol, originally developed for basic research, can serve as a more welfare-friendly yet informative alternative for assessing epileptic brain activity in dogs. In this study, N = 11 family dogs diagnosed with epilepsy underwent a single non-invasive polysomnography session. EEG-based evidence for epileptic activity was detected in two cases. Polysomnography data from these 11 epileptic dogs were further analysed to evaluate sleep structure parameters. Compared to a matched control group of N = 11 clinically healthy dogs, the epileptic group exhibited reduced sleep efficiency, increased sleep latency, more wakings after sleep onset, and less time spent in drowsiness and non-REM sleep. These findings support the potential utility of non-invasive brain monitoring techniques, such as polysomnography, in the diagnosis and management of epilepsy in veterinary medicine.
除了具有特征性且易于识别的行为迹象——即癫痫发作外，脑电图（EEG）长期以来一直是癫痫诊断方案的标准组成部分。在兽医实践中，脑电图检查通常以半侵入性方式进行，使用皮下电极并配合镇静。在此，我们提出，最初为基础研究而开发的非侵入性多导睡眠图方案，可作为一种对动物福利更友好且信息丰富的替代方法，用于评估犬类的癫痫脑活动。在本研究中，11只被诊断患有癫痫的家养犬接受了单次非侵入性多导睡眠图检查。在两例中检测到基于脑电图的癫痫活动证据。对这11只癫痫犬的多导睡眠图数据进行进一步分析，以评估睡眠结构参数。与11只临床健康犬组成的匹配对照组相比，癫痫组的睡眠效率降低、睡眠潜伏期延长、睡眠开始后觉醒增多，且花在昏昏欲睡和非快速眼动睡眠上的时间减少。这些发现支持了非侵入性脑监测技术，如多导睡眠图，在兽医医学中癫痫诊断和管理方面的潜在效用。
