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Chapter 7 - Neonatal Encephalopathy

from Part II - Practice of Neuromonitoring: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2022

By
Geraldine B. Boylan  and
Deirdre M. Murray
Edited by
Cecil D. Hahn  and
Courtney J. Wusthoff
Cecil D. Hahn
Affiliation:
The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto
Courtney J. Wusthoff
Affiliation:
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University
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Summary

Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is the term used to describe persistent neurological dysfunction evident in the first few days after birth. The commonest cause of NE is hypoxia-ischemia, but a similar clinical presentation may occur in other conditions. EEG is essential to grade the severity of neonatal encephalopathy, monitor response to anti-seizure therapy, and to predict outcome early in the neonatal period in infants with NE. Because therapeutic hypothermia is often used in neonatal encephalopathy, the impact of hypothermia on EEG findings is important to consider. EEG evolution and outcome prediction is altered by therapeutic hypothermia. Seizures are common in NE, and seizure burden is also altered by hypothermia. EEG and aEEG can assess severity of NE and predict outcome more accurately than clinical assessment alone. This chapter discusses the various uses of EEG and aEEG in neonatal encephalopathy.

Keywords

neonatal encephalopathyhypoxic-ischemic encephalopathytherapeutic hypothermiaEEGaEEGprognosisseizure
Type
Chapter
Information
Neuromonitoring in Neonatal and Pediatric Critical Care , pp. 103 - 115
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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