Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · May 2014
Multicenter StudyElectrographic seizures are associated with brain injury in newborns undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.
Seizures are common among newborns with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) but the relationship between seizure burden and severity of brain injury among neonates receiving therapeutic hypothermia (TH) for HIE is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that seizure burden is associated with cerebral tissue injury independent of amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) background activity. ⋯ Electrographic seizure burden is associated with severity of brain injury on MRI in newborns with HIE undergoing TH, independent of degree of abnormality on aEEG background. Seizures are common during cooling, particularly on day 1, with a significant rebound on day 4.