Neonatal seizures in a tertiary care hospital: clinical presentation and outcome

Abstract

Background: In the neonatal period, seizures emerge as the most apparent warning sign of neurological disorder and are most common in the first 10 days of life. The true incidence of newborn seizures is difficult to ascertain since clinical detection of neonatal seizures is challenging. Growing research suggests that newborn seizures impair neurodevelopmental outcome and may increase the risk of cognitive, behavioral, or epileptic consequences in adulthood. Methodology: The Neonatal unit of the Paediatrics Department at the Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital in Sylhet served as the site of this cross-sectional study. This study was conducted between July 2013 and December 2013. There were 100 newborns who had seizures participated in the study. After written consent, a thorough history was taken and complete physical examinations were done. Every seizure episode that was reported by the mother and later examined by the resident doctors documented clinically. Results: Most neonates (74%) who experienced seizures were between 1 and 3 days old, and most of them were male children (63%). 40% of newborns cried right away, whereas 60% of them had a history of delayed crying. During the first three days of life, 83% of infants experienced seizures. More than half (57%) of newborns required resuscitation, and 100% of them had weak reflexes. Different types of seizures were observed in neonates. Among them 67% of patients had subtle seizures, 13% had tonic-clonic seizures, 10% had focal clonic seizures, and 10% had tonic seizures. Total 86% of the patients were discharged following treatment. Conclusion: First three days of life and male babies are more prone to seizures. Neonatal mortality is largely caused by newborn seizures.