PPRuNe Forums - EEG

I underwent the EEG last august as part of the class 1 medical. They reported a minor abnormailty in the EEG and i was called back for a sleep deprived test - again with the same outcome.

Now Gatwick have told me that the test is and i quote 'frequently unreliable'. I have never suffered any form of seizure in my life and have never had any form of head injury. I had another test carried out by a private consultant neurologist. Although the minor abnormality is still present he said his personal opinion was that this was not a significant abnormality by any means and i would be extremely unlikely to ever have a seizure in my lifetime. He was very surprised that the JAA even used the test as NASA stopped using it for astronaut screening in 1995, the US Navy stopped it in 1982 and the US airforce stopped using it in 1978!!!

No other aviation authority in the world uses the EEG as i already hold a class one Australian medical and no EEG was carried out. Recent research carried out on the use of the EEG in aircrew screening when analyzed showed that the incidence of false positive readings (i.e. a reading that indicates an abnormality whereby the patient has not developed a seizure over a 15 year period) was 92%!!!! The accuracy of the test was determined as 7.5%!!

I would love to know why an £80 screening test with that kind of reliability is used.

I am in the middle of appealing at the moment but to no avail. There is talk that the JAA may dump the test as the JAA medical commitee have held discussions about this for the past 2 years. At the last meeting the general consensus in europe was that the test was not useful as part of the initial class one medical, however one country within the JAA insists that they wish it to be continued, so watch this space!!!

Anyway, my advice would be to seek a private medical opinion, your Dr should be able to direct you to a consultant neurologist.

All the best and good luck!!