Purpose: Continuous EEG (cEEG) monitoring is increasingly used in the management of neonates with seizures. There remains debate on what clinically relevant information can be gained from cEEG in neonates with suspected seizures, at high risk for seizures, or with definite seizures, as well as the use of cEEG for prognosis in a variety of conditions. In this guideline, we address these questions using American Clinical Neurophysiology Society structured methodology for clinical guideline development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) remains an important cause of acute seizures, morbidity, and mortality in children. We aimed to assess the clinical and electrographic seizure burden in children with AHT and to explore predictors of morbidity and mortality.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all children admitted with AHT who underwent continuous electroencephalographic monitoring (cEEG) between January 1st, 2015, and April 15th, 2021.
Objective: Assess the capacity of brain state of the newborn (BSN) to predict neurodevelopment outcomes in neonatal encephalopathy.
Methods: Trends of BSN, a deep learning-based measure translating EEG background to a continuous trend, were studied from a three-channel montage long-term EEG monitoring from a prospective cohort of 92 infants with neonatal encephalopathy and neurodevelopmental outcomes assessed by Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd edition (Bayley-III) at 18 months. Outcome prediction used categories "Severe impairment" (Bayley-III composite score ≤70 or death) or "Any impairment" (score ≤85 or death).
Background: In patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC), laboratory and molecular biomarkers may help define endotypes, identify therapeutic targets, prognosticate outcomes, and guide patient selection in clinical trials. We performed a systematic review to identify common data elements (CDEs) and key design elements (KDEs) for future coma and DoC research.
Methods: The Curing Coma Campaign Biospecimens and Biomarkers work group, composed of seven invited members, reviewed existing biomarker and biospecimens CDEs and conducted a systematic literature review for laboratory and molecular biomarkers using predetermined search words and standardized methodology.
Background: The fundamental gap obstructing forward progress of evidenced-based care in pediatric and neonatal disorders of consciousness (DoC) is the lack of defining consensus-based terminology to perform comparative research. This lack of shared nomenclature in pediatric DoC stems from the inherently recursive dilemma of the inability to reliably measure consciousness in the very young. However, recent advancements in validated clinical examinations and technologically sophisticated biomarkers of brain activity linked to future abilities are unlocking this previously formidable challenge to understanding the DoC in the developing brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeizures are common in neonates, but there is substantial management variability. The Neonatal Task Force of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) developed evidence-based recommendations about antiseizure medication (ASM) management in neonates in accordance with ILAE standards. Six priority questions were formulated, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis were performed, and results were reported following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 standards.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe the relationship between cerebral oxygenation, cardiac output, arterial blood pressure (BP), and cerebral blood flow velocity in extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) during transition.
Methods: This study comprises secondary analyses from a prospective observational study conducted at a tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Recruited ELGANs underwent cerebral saturation (CrSO) monitoring and serial echocardiography during 72 h from birth.
The ability to synchronize continuous electroencephalogram (cEEG) signals with physiological waveforms such as electrocardiogram (ECG), invasive pressures, photoplethysmography and other signals can provide meaningful insights regarding coupling between brain activity and other physiological subsystems. Aligning these datasets is a particularly challenging problem because device clocks handle time differently and synchronization protocols may be undocumented or proprietary.We used an ensemble-based model to detect the timestamps of heartbeat artefacts from ECG waveforms recorded from inpatient bedside monitors and from cEEG signals acquired using a different device.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Electroencephalograms (EEGs) are a fundamental evaluation in neurology but require special expertise unavailable in many regions of the world. Artificial intelligence (AI) has a potential for addressing these unmet needs. Previous AI models address only limited aspects of EEG interpretation such as distinguishing abnormal from normal or identifying epileptiform activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Seizures are common during neonatal encephalopathy (NE), but the contribution of seizure burden (SB) to outcomes remains controversial. This study aims to examine the relationship between electrographic SB and neurologic outcomes after NE.
Methods: This prospective cohort study recruited newborns ≥36 weeks postmenstrual age around 6 hours of life between August 2014 and November 2019 from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Aim: The aim of the study was to describe amplitude integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) cyclicity, background pattern, voltage margins and maturation scores in extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) in the first 72 h.
Methods: Fifty infants with gestational age (GA) 23+0-27+6 weeks were prospectively studied. Infants with intraventricular haemorrhage ≦ Grade I and no disorders of transition (persistent pulmonary hypertension, hypotension, pulmonary haemorrhage) belonged to the 'Uncomplicated' group and those with intraventricular haemorrhage > Grade I and/or disorders of transition, to the 'Complicated' group.
Purpose: In 2011, the authors conducted a survey regarding continuous EEG (CEEG) utilization in critically ill children. In the interim decade, the literature has expanded, and guidelines and consensus statements have addressed CEEG utilization. Thus, the authors aimed to characterize current practice related to CEEG utilization in critically ill children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Electrographic seizures are common among critically ill children, and have been associated with worse outcomes. Despite their often-widespread cortical representation, most of these seizures remain subclinical, a phenomenon which remains poorly understood. We compared the brain network properties of clinical versus subclinical seizures to gain insight into their relative potential deleterious effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpileptic seizures are relatively common in critically-ill children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and thus serve as an important target for identification and treatment. Most of these seizures have no discernible clinical manifestation but still have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. Children that are deemed at risk for seizures within the PICU are monitored using continuous-electroencephalogram (cEEG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) are rare treatment-resistant childhood epilepsies classed as developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. ELEKTRA investigated the efficacy and safety of soticlestat (TAK-935) as adjunctive therapy in children with DS or LGS (NCT03650452).
Methods: ELEKTRA was a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of soticlestat (≤300 mg twice daily, weight-adjusted) in children (aged 2-17 years) with DS, demonstrating three or more convulsive seizures/month, or with LGS, demonstrating four or more drop seizures/month at baseline.
As survival after pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission has improved over recent years, a key focus now is the reduction of morbidities and optimization of quality of life for survivors. Neurologic disorders and direct brain injuries are the reason for 11-16% of admissions to PICU. In addition, many critically ill children are at heightened risk of brain injury and neurodevelopmental difficulties affecting later life, e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA key goal of neonatal neurocritical care is improved outcomes, and brain monitoring plays an essential role. The recent NEST trial reported no outcome benefits using aEEG monitoring compared to clinical seizure identification among neonates treated for seizures. However, the study failed to prove the effects of monitoring on seizure treatment in the first place.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The developing preterm brain is vulnerable to injury, especially during periods of clinical instability; therefore, monitoring the brain may provide important information on brain health. Over the last 2 decades, a growing body of literature has been reported on preterm amplitude integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) with regards to normative data and associations with adverse outcomes. Despite this, the use of aEEG for preterm infants remains mostly a research tool with limited clinical applicability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectrographic seizures are common in critically ill children and a significant proportion of these seizures are nonconvulsive. There is an association between electrographic seizures and neurophysiological disturbances, worse short- and long-term neurologic outcomes, and mortality in critically ill patients. In this context, timely diagnosis and treatment of electrographic seizures in critically ill children becomes important.
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