Neonatal Seizure: Etiology and Type

Objective

Neonates, for many reasons, are at particular risk for the development of seizures, which are a strong predictor of later morbidity and mortality in infants.

We undertook this study to determine the incidence, etiologic distribution and neonatal seizure type in neonates with hospital admission over a period of 4 years.

Materials and Methods

This, a retrospective study of newborns admitted in hospital with a diagnosis of neonatal seizures, was conducted over a 4 year period between March 2001 and March 2005.

Data were obtained from hospital records was analyzed using the Chi-square test.

Results

Of 4541 newborns, admitted to hospital, during the study period, seizures occurred in 110 neonates. The incidence of neonatal seizures was 2.4%; the causes of neonatal seizure were Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) - 36.4%, infections -19.1%, metabolic abnormalities - 7.3%, Intra Cranial Hemorrhage (ICH) - 2.7%, structural disorders - 1.8% and in 32.7% of cases, the cause was unknown.

Subtle seizures (39.1%) were the most common type of seizures; and the other types were myoclonic (17.3%), clonic (10.0%), Tonic (7.3%), Generalized Tonic Clonic Seizures (GTCS) (12.7%) and in 13.6% of cases the type of seizure was not mentioned. Mortality rate was 13.6%.

Conclusion

Health care workers and parents need to be made aware of subtle seizures and the importance of timely and appropriate treatment to decrease any further complications.