S53 AED development in neonates

Abstract

Seizures are the most common neurological emergency in the neonatal period and associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. Neonatal seizures are usually acute and are often subclinical or show discreet clinical manifestations that are often difficult to differentiate from movements seen in sick preterm or term babies. Hence, the need for EEG confirmation for the diagnosis of neonatal seizures is now widely accepted. All of this makes the integration into a classification serving all ages difficult, which is reflected by the fact that, until recently, the ILAE classifications did not include neonatal seizures. Consequently other classifications have been published by neonatologists and paediatric neurologists, which are specific to the neonatal period (Volpe, 1989; Mizrahi and Kellaway, 1987). In 2014, a new Task Force on Neonatal Seizures has been established which aims to develop ways in which neonatal seizures and epilepsies can be integrated into the new classification of the epilepsies. We have developed a diagnostic framework to describe neonatal seizures which can be used in conjunction with the new classification of the epilepsies using the same concepts and terminology. The framework will be presented with video examples of all seizure types.