[Clinical course following a neonatal E.E.G. recording reported as severely abnormal (author's transl)].

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of neonatal E.E.G. tracings in children born at term. The clinical course of 45 children was followed and related to E.E.G. abnormalities reported during the first 5 days of life. Essentially the findings confirmed those previously reported by others. However some differences were noted: paroxysmal tracings were not associated with a poor clinical state, and moderately abnormal tracings (the prognostic significance of which has never been defined) led on sometimes to a severe encephalopathy. We wish to stress certain aspects of our findings: -recordings in the first 24 hours of life may be misleading. -recordings, to be of value, must be taken before any treatment which could induce paroxystic E.E.G. patterns. -E.E.Gs should be repeated during the post-natal period when the findings are non-specific. -the prognostic significance of tracings reported as "generalised or localised overactivity" should be evaluated.