title: [Seizures in the neonatal period]
abstract: OBJECTIVE: To characterize and differentiate neonatal seizures from those that occur at different ages, based on a critical assessment of the available literature and also on the authorś clinical experience. SOURCES: Literature review, including up-to-date and classical studies that helped us to better understand clinical, neurophysiological and physiopathological aspects related to seizures in the newborn. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: The authors present clinical and electroencephalographic characteristics of neonatal seizures, discuss their classification, treatment and prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Neonatal seizures have a distinct clinical pattern, which justifies the necessity of an appropriate classification. The etiology is predominantly symptomatic and multifactorial; the treatment should follow a routine protocol, and the prognosis seems to be closely related to etiology.
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Fiori