Scalp Edema and High Frequency Respirator Artifacts Scalp Edema and High Frequency Respirator Artifacts. An 18-day-old boy with diaphragmatic hernia, pulmonary hypoplasia, and generalized skin edema, including severe scalp edema due to hypoalbuminemia, who had been on ECMO since birth. Head CT showed significant extra-axial CSF space. His level of consciousness was improving. EEG demonstrates very low-voltage background activity throughout the recording probably caused by a combination of scalp edema, increased extra-axial CSF space, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Note artifactual, low-voltage, rhythmic, 7-Hz theta activity due to the high-frequency respirator in the right occipital electrode (arrow). Source: Generalized Nonepileptiform Activity, Atlas of Pediatric EEG Citation: Laoprasert P. Atlas of Pediatric EEG; 2011 Available at: http://neurology.mhmedical.com/DownloadImage.aspx?image=/data/books/1042/lao001_fig_05-70.gif&sec=59079573&BookID=1042&ChapterSecID=59078727&imagename= Accessed: October 04, 2017 Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved