Neonatal seizures during extra corporeal membrane oxygenation support.

To evaluate EEG monitoring during neonatal ECMO and to identify any correlations between seizure detection to abnormal neuroimaging. Eight-year, service evaluation of neonates who received at least one continuous EEG (cEEG) whilst on ECMO at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Pearson's chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to assess clinical and EEG variables association with seizures and neuroimaging findings. Fifty-seven neonates were studied; 57 cEEG recordings were reviewed. The incidence of seizures was 33% (19/57); of these 74% (14/19) were electrographic-only. The incidence of status epilepticus was 42%, (8/19 with 6 neonates having electrographic-only status and 2 electro-clinical status. Seizures were detected within an hour of recording in 84%, (16/19). The overall mortality rate was 39% (22/57). Seizure detection was strongly associated with female gender (OR 4.8, 95% CI: 1.1-20.4, p = 0.03), abnormal EEG background activity (OR 2.8, 95% CI: 1.1-7.4, p = 0.03) and abnormal EEG focal features (OR 23.6, 95% CI: 5.4-103.9, p = 0.001). There was a strong association between the presence of seizures and abnormal neuroimaging findings (OR 10.9, 95% CI: 2.8-41.9, p = 0.001). Neonates were highly likely to have abnormal neuroimaging findings in the presence of severely abnormal background EEG (OR 9.5, 95% CI 1.7-52.02, p = 0.01) and focal EEG abnormalities (OR 6.35, 95% CI 1.97-20.5, p = 0.002)Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of cEEG in neonates undergoing ECMO. An association between seizure detection and abnormal neuroimaging findings was described. What is Known: • Patients on ECMO are at a higher risk of seiures. • Continuous EEG monitoring is recommended by the ACNS for high risk and ECMO patients. What is New: • In this cohort, neonates with sezirues were 11 times more likely of having abnromal neuroimaging findings. • Neonates with burst suppressed or suppressed EEG background were 9.5 times more likely to have abnormal neuroimaging findings. What does this study add? • This study reports a 33% incidence of neonatal seizures during ECMO. • Neonates with seizures were 11 times more likely to have an abnormal brain scan. • The study captures the real-time approach of EEG monitoring. • Recommended cEEG monitoring should last at least 24 h for ECMO patients. • This is the first study to assess this in neonates only.

Transient abnormal myelopoiesis requiring advanced neonatal intensive care treatment.

AIM: Five to thirty percent of neonates with trisomy 21 develop transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) with a high mortality rate. The aim of the study was to identify contributing factors that determine mortality and need for chemotherapy in this patient group. METHODS: Six-year, single-centre, retrospective study of neonatal TAM cases requiring admission to intensive care. Data were collected from electronic patient records, laboratory and genetic results. The odds ratio was calculated to assess the likelihood of neonates with certain clinical characteristics having short-term mortality and needing chemotherapy. RESULTS: Twenty-one neonates were studied with a mortality rate of 28%. Neonates requiring inotropic support (OR 19, 95% CI: 0.9-399, p = 0.05) and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) (OR 13, 95% CI: 1.4-124.3, p = 0.03) were less likely to survive to discharge. Neonates needing mechanical ventilation (OR 14, 95% CI: 1.1-185.5, p = 0.04), or a white cell count >50 × 109/L (OR 27, 95% CI: 1.2-605.7, p = 0.04) were more likely to receive chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: A high mortality rate was identified in TAM neonates with symptomatic pulmonary hypertension (PH) needing active treatment strategies, such as inotropes and iNO. The presence of PH should be considered in the clinical management, prognosis and parental counselling.

Sleep State Modulates Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Neonates.

The spontaneous cerebral activity that gives rise to resting-state networks (RSNs) has been extensively studied in infants in recent years. However, the influence of sleep state on the presence of observable RSNs has yet to be formally investigated in the infant population, despite evidence that sleep modulates resting-state functional connectivity in adults. This effect could be extremely important, as most infant neuroimaging studies rely on the neonate to remain asleep throughout data acquisition. In this study, we combine functional near-infrared spectroscopy with electroencephalography to simultaneously monitor sleep state and investigate RSNs in a cohort of healthy term born neonates. During active sleep (AS) and quiet sleep (QS) our newborn neonates show functional connectivity patterns spatially consistent with previously reported RSN structures. Our three independent functional connectivity analyses revealed stronger interhemispheric connectivity during AS than during QS. In turn, within hemisphere short-range functional connectivity seems to be enhanced during QS. These findings underline the importance of sleep state monitoring in the investigation of RSNs.

Diffuse optical tomography for the detection of perinatal stroke at the cot side: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal stroke is a potentially debilitating injury, often under-diagnosed in the neonatal period. We conducted a pilot study investigating the role of the portable, non-invasive brain monitoring technique, diffuse optical tomography (DOT), as an early detection tool for infants with perinatal stroke. METHODS: Four stroke-affected infants were scanned with a DOT system within the first 3 days of life and compared to four healthy control subjects. Spectral power, correlation, and phase lag between interhemispheric low frequency (0.0055-0.3 Hz) hemoglobin signals were assessed. Optical data analyses were conducted with and without magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided stroke localization to assess the efficacy of DOT when used without stroke anatomical information. RESULTS: Interhemispheric correlations of both oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentration were significantly reduced in the stroke-affected group within the very low (0.0055-0.0095 Hz) and resting state (0.01-0.08 Hz) frequencies (p < 0.003). There were no interhemispheric differences for spectral power. These results were observed even without MRI stroke localization. CONCLUSION: This suggests that DOT and correlation-based analyses in the low-frequency range can potentially aid the early detection of perinatal stroke, prior to MRI acquisition. Additional methodological advances are required to increase the sensitivity and specificity of this technique.

Hemodynamic response to burst-suppressed and discontinuous electroencephalography activity in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Burst suppression (BS) is an electroencephalographic state associated with a profound inactivation of the brain. BS and pathological discontinuous electroencephalography (EEG) are often observed in term-age infants with neurological injury and can be indicative of a poor outcome and lifelong disability. Little is known about the neurophysiological mechanisms of BS or how the condition relates to the functional state of the neonatal brain. We used simultaneous EEG and diffuse optical tomography (DOT) to investigate whether bursts of EEG activity in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy are associated with an observable cerebral hemodynamic response. We were able to identify significant changes in concentration of both oxy and deoxyhemoglobin that are temporally correlated with EEG bursts and present a relatively consistent morphology across six infants. Furthermore, DOT reveals patient-specific spatial distributions of this hemodynamic response that may be indicative of a complex pattern of cortical activation underlying discontinuous EEG activity that is not readily apparent in scalp EEG.

Errata: Hemodynamic response to burst-suppressed and discontinuous electroencephalography activity in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.3.3.031408.].