Study computed tomography (CT), Sonography and electroencephalogram (EEG) findings in neonates with seizure in Tabriz pediatric hospital (2018 - 2019)

Abstract

Seizures are sudden, transient, and involuntary disorders of brain function due to abnormal electrical activity of neurons in the brain. The main and most important step in dealing with a neonatal with seizures is to diagnose and treat the underlying cause. Early diagnosis and treatment of neonatal seizures is in many cases effective in preventing long-term physical and mental disability and irreversible changes in the nervous system, and therefore any delay in diagnosis can lead to irreversible changes in the neurological system. This study aims to evaluate the findings of CT scan and sonography in infants with seizures in the last two years in Tabriz Children's Hospital. Materials and Methods: In a retrospective study, the files of hospitalized infants with a diagnosis of neonatal seizures between April 2017 and March 2019 in the Tabriz pediatric hospital were examined for radiographic and cerebrospinal findings that 150 cases have been hospitalized with the possibility and initial diagnosis of seizures during this period and patients' information was collected based on the contents of the file in the archive and based on the checklist provided in the appendix. Finally, according to the exclusion criteria, 90 patients whose final diagnosis was seizures were evaluated with radiographic and electroencephalo-graphic findings. Descriptive statistics were determined separately for each of the findings Results: The mean age of the neonates was 11.63 ± 8.32 days. 40% of the neonates were female and 60% of the neonates were male. 35.5% of the neonates were born less or equal than 37 weeks gestation and 14. 4% of infants weighed less or equal than 2,500 grams at birth. Also, in terms of seizure type, subtle seizures include 38.9% of cases, tonic seizures include 25.6% of cases, clonic seizures 28.9% of cases and myoclonic seizures 6.7%. The most common cause of seizures in infants was first benign neonatal seizures and then HIE. Other causes were less common than these two. In this study, 22.2% of CT scans; an abnormal finding has been reported that the most common abnormal findings were hypoxic-ischemic lesions, then hemorrhagic lesions and cerebral edema. Also, 12.5% of ultrasound findings and 45.6% of EEG findings were abnormal. In terms of type of seizure, multifocal seizures were 62.2%, generalized seizures were 23.3% and focal seizures were 14.4%.