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Rhythmic coma in children
E J Horton1, W D Goldie, T Z Baram
1Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, CA 90027.
Journal of Child Neurology
|July 1, 1990
Summary
Rhythmic coma, characterized by specific brainwave patterns in children, is a distinct syndrome. The underlying cause, not the brainwave frequency, determines the outcome, with a better prognosis in children than adults.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Clinical Neurophysiology
Background:
- Rhythmic coma is a rare condition observed in comatose children.
- It is characterized by invariant, nonreactive, diffuse cortical activity at specific frequencies (alpha, beta, spindle, theta).
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the syndrome of rhythmic coma in children.
- To analyze the relationship between electroencephalographic patterns and clinical outcomes.
- To propose a unified concept for this condition in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- Case series analysis of 11 children diagnosed with rhythmic coma.
- Electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring to identify specific rhythmic patterns.
- Correlation of EEG findings with underlying diagnoses and clinical outcomes.
Main Results:
- The study identified 11 pediatric cases with rhythmic coma due to various acute illnesses.
- The specific EEG frequency (alpha, beta, spindle, or theta) did not impact patient outcomes.
- Clinical outcomes were primarily dependent on the primary disease process.
Conclusions:
- Rhythmic coma is a unified concept for specific EEG patterns in comatose children.
- Prognosis in children with rhythmic coma is generally better than in adults.
- The developing brain may exhibit varied expressions of deafferentation leading to rhythmic coma.