Neonatal seizures in term infants: clinical and electrophysiological features

This article presents the results of clinical, neuroimaging and electrophysiological examination of newborns with cerebral ischemia, accompanied by neonatal seizures. Neonatal seizures are an early clinical manifestation of cerebral disorders in term infants. The main method for diagnosing these conditions is to record the electrobiological activity of the brain during the interictal period and to identification of patterns of epileptic seizures. The purpose of this work was to study the clinical and electrophysiological features of neonatal seizures. In the Department of Intensive care unit and the Department of Pathology of the newborn of perinatal center of the Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, we examined 21 newborns with cerebral ischemia and neonatal seizures. All children underwent a clinical and laboratory examination, neuroimaging (neurosonography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain), electrophysiological stu dies (EEG). It was shown that in newborn infants with convulsive syndrome in the early and neonatal period of the ictal and interictal electroencephalogram, such patterns as basal rhythm depression, discontinuity of the main electrobiological activity, acute focal or multifocal activity are recorded. The author gives his own observations of the EEG recordings in children during the fetal period, represented by focal monorhythmic patterns and focal rhythmic activity in the form of acute-slow wave complexes with subsequent suppression of the main rhythm.