Amplitude-integrated electro-encephalography: the child neurologist's perspective

Neurologists increasingly recognize that critically ill patients are at high risk for seizures, particularly nonconvulsive seizures, and that neuromonitoring is a useful tool for diagnosing seizures and assessing brain function in these patients. Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (EEG) is a simplified bedside neurophysiology tool that has become widely used in neonates over the past decade. Despite widespread interest by both neurologists and neonatologists in continuous brain monitoring, amplitude-integrated EEG has been largely ignored by neurologists, forcing neonatologists to "go it alone" when interpreting data from this bedside tool. Although amplitude-integrated EEG cannot replace conventional EEG for background monitoring and detection of seizures, it remains a useful instrument that complements conventional EEG, is being widely adopted by neonatologists, and should be supported by neonatal neurologists.