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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Application of an Amplitude-integrated EEG Monitor (Cerebral Function Monitor) to Neonates
Published on: September 6, 2017
Long-term clinical outcome of neonatal EEG findings
Salah Almubarak1, Peter K H Wong
1Department of Diagnostic Neurophysiology, British Columbia Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Insights
Neonatal electroencephalogram (EEG) background abnormalities, especially suppression, may predict unfavorable neurological outcomes in children. Overall EEG impression is also a significant predictor of long-term clinical results.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal neurology
- Clinical neurophysiology
Background:
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) is crucial for assessing neonatal brain function.
- Predicting long-term neurological outcomes from neonatal EEG findings remains an area of active research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between specific neonatal electroencephalogram (EEG) findings and long-term clinical neurological outcomes in term newborns.
- To identify predictive EEG markers for unfavorable outcomes and epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective study of 118 term newborns with neonatal EEGs and follow-up assessments between 4 and 16 years.
- Clinical outcomes were categorized as favorable, unfavorable, or epilepsy.
- Analysis of EEG parameters including background activity, sharp transient discharges, ictal epileptiform discharges, and overall impression.
Main Results:
- A significant portion of neonates (69.5%) had unfavorable outcomes, and a majority (75.4%) developed epilepsy.
- Abnormal EEG background, particularly suppression, was associated with unfavorable outcomes (56 out of 67 cases).
- Overall abnormal EEG impression strongly correlated with unfavorable outcomes (77 out of 98 cases) and epilepsy (80 out of 98 cases).
Conclusions:
- Abnormal neonatal EEG background, especially suppression, may serve as a predictive marker for unfavorable neurological outcomes.
- The overall impression of a neonatal EEG can be predictive of long-term clinical outcomes, even when individual EEG parameters do not show significant correlations.
Abstract:
The aim of the study is to determine how specific EEG findings during neonatal period correlate with clinical outcome on follow-up. This is a retrospective study of 118 term newborns who had EEG in the first month of life and subsequent clinical assessment between 4 and 16 years. Clinical neurologic outcome was classified into "favorable" when patients had no or only mild limitation in assessment, "unfavorable" when patients had moderate to severe abnormalities in assessment, and "epilepsy" when patients had seizures. Of the 118 neonates, 36 (30.5%) had favorable and 82 (69.5%) had unfavorable outcome; 89 (75.4%) had epilepsy and 28 (23.7%) had not. Sixty-seven (57%) had abnormal EEG background of which 56 had both unfavorable outcome and epilepsy; 102 (86%) had sharp transient discharges of which 75 had unfavorable outcome; 20 (17%) had ictal epileptiform discharges of which 18 had unfavorable outcome; 98 (83%) had abnormal overall EEG impression of which 77 had unfavorable outcome and 80 had epilepsy. Abnormal EEG background (particularly suppression) during neonatal period may be predictive of Unfavorable outcome. Overall impression of EEG may be predictive of clinical outcome, even when individual parameters were not predictive. Other findings did not appear to be predictive.
