Neurological outcome of newborns with neonatal seizures: a cohort study in a tertiary university hospital.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the neurological outcome of newborns with seizures.


METHODS
Cohort study with newborns prospectively followed. Perinatal characteristics and etiological screening were related to outcome in a regression model.


RESULTS
During the study 3,659 newborns were admitted and 2.7% were diagnosed as having seizures. Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (51%) was the etiology more frequently associated to seizures and also to postneonatal epilepsy (53%). In the follow up 25 died during the acute neonatal illness and 9 during the first years of life, 19 were diagnosed as having post neonatal epilepsy, 35 had developmental delay and 11 an association among this two comorbidities. A significant association between abnormal postnatal EEG and neuroimaging to developmental delay (p=0.014, p=0.026) was observed. The group of newborns that had seizures presented an increased risk of developing epilepsy compared to newborns from the same cohort without seizures (19.3/100 vs. 1.8/100, p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study neonatal seizures predominated in term newborns with perinatal asphyxia an elevated perinatal mortality and post neonatal morbidity was observed. The follow up showed an increased risk for developing postnatal epilepsy and developmental delay.
Neurodevelopment Outpatient Clinic, Hospital São Lucas, School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. nunes@pucrs.br
Magda Lahorgue
ML
Nunes
Maurer Pereira
MP
Martins
Bianca Menke
BM
Barea
Ricardo C
RC
Wainberg
Jaderson Costa da
JC
Costa
D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000151:congenital; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis