Standardised computer-based organised reporting of the EEG. Advantages of "SCOREing" exemplified by pediatric EEGs

It is common practice to assess electroencephalographic (EEG) findings by visual analysis followed by report writing in free text format. This has the disadvantages of a moderate agreement in EEG interpretation at best and considerable interobserver variability. A working group of EEG experts consisting of neurologists and neurophysiologists produced a consensus proposal for the standardized reporting of EEGs: the standardized computer-based organized reporting of EEG (SCORE) system. For each EEG finding relevant features are scored using predefined terms and at the end a report is produced automatically. The SCORE system can be used for reporting EEGs from patients of any age, from preterm to adult EEG recordings. As neonatal EEGs require a unique approach, a special template was developed for this age group. A German translation is now freely available. The SCORE system can potentially improve the quality of EEG assessment and reporting, will help incorporate the results of computer-assisted analysis into a report, enables the creation of a multinational database and will help in training young neurophysiologists. © Springer-Verlag 2014.