Prognostic value of non-reactive burst suppression EEG pattern associated to early neonatal seizures

Seizures are the most frequent neurological event in newborns and clinical data suggest that etiology is the dominant factor in long term outcome. However, there are consistent background EEG abnormalities associated to neonatal seizures that are usually related to unfavorable outcome as the burst-suppression pattern.

The objective of this study was to correlate clinical and EEG features associated to long-term outcome of newborns with non-reactive burst-suppression (BS) EEG.

Newborns included in the study were selected from our database and had conceptional age (at the time of first EEG) >37 weeks, EEG recordings with non-reactive BS available for review and clinical follow up.

12 newborns met inclusion criteria, 50% had seizures in the first day of life. Seizures became refractory to treatment in all of them. In 50% the etiology of seizures was considered cryptogenic, 33% had inborn errors of metabolism and 17% had clinical history and neuroimage suggestive of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. The follow-up showed that 7/12 infants deceased, 3 during the first year of life, and one in the neonatal period. All the survivors had severe developmental delay and multifocal neurological impairment. 92% developed refractory epilepsy, 58% were latter diagnosed with West syndrome.

The non-reactive BS pattern may appear related to many neonatal neurological disorders and is associated with early and refractory neonatal seizures. It is clearly associated with elevated morbidity and mortality and to the development of post-neonatal epilepsy.