The Etiology and Clinical Evaluations of Neonatal Seizures in Kashan, IRAN
Ahmad Talebian1, Mohammad Jahangiri1, Mahin Rabiee1
1Pediatric Department, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Insights
Neonatal seizures are common, with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) being the primary cause. Clinical evaluation for neonatal seizures requires enhancement to improve diagnosis and therapy guidance.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal neurology
- Pediatric epilepsy
- Clinical diagnostics
Background:
- Neonatal seizures necessitate accurate diagnosis for effective therapeutic strategies.
- Understanding seizure etiology and clinical presentation is crucial in neonates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causes and clinical characteristics of neonatal seizures in Kashan, Iran.
- To evaluate the diagnostic approaches for neonatal seizures.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 100 neonates diagnosed with seizures between January 2006 and January 2011.
- Review of medical records, including gestational age, admission age, delivery type, and investigations.
- Statistical comparison of seizure etiology with other variables using the Chi-square test.
Main Results:
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) was the leading cause (36%) of neonatal seizures.
- Other significant etiologies included hyponatremia (12%), hypoglycemia (11%), and intracranial hemorrhage (11%).
- Focal-clonic seizures (26%) and tonic seizures (25%) were the most prevalent types, unrelated to paraclinical findings.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal seizures are a frequent occurrence, predominantly caused by HIE.
- There is a need for improved clinical evaluation methods for neonatal seizures.
- The study highlights the importance of identifying specific etiologies for targeted neonatal seizure management.
Objective:
Detection of seizure, its etiology, and clinical types is important for guiding therapy. This study was designed to evaluate the etiology and clinical evaluations of neonatal seizures in Kashan, Iran.
Materials And Methods:
The data of 100 hospitalized neonates with a complaint of seizures in Kashan City, from January 2006 to January 2011 were evaluated. The pediatric neurologist made the final diagnosis. The gestational age, neonate admission age, type of delivery, and laboratory and radiological investigations were reviewed from the medical records. The relation of seizure etiology and other variables were compared using the Chi-square test. All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (ver 11.5).
Results:
A total of 100 neonates were hospitalized with a diagnosis of seizures. The overall incidence rate of seizures was 2.6 per 1,000 live births. A total of 59% of seizures happened in the first three days of life. The etiologies of seizures were hypoxicischemic encephalopathy (HIE) (36%), hyponatremia (12%), hypoglycemia (11%), intracranial hemorrhage (11%), infections (10%), hypocalcemia (8%), metabolic disorders (7%), the structural anomalies (5%), and hypomagnesaemia (4%). In 23% of neonates, no specific etiology was found and 23% had multiple etiologies. In 45% of neonates, the EEG was not recorded. The type of the seizures were focal-clonic (26%), tonic (25%), multifocal clonic (34%), subtle (11%), and myoclonic (4%). The types of the seizure were unrelated to the paraclinical findings.
Conclusion:
Neonatal seizures are common and HIE was the main cause of seizures in this study. The clinical evaluation of neonatal seizures needs improvement.
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