Neonatal Epileptic Encephalopathies

Isolated ictal apnea in neonatal age: Clinical features and treatment options. A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Among autonomic seizures apnea still represent a challenge for physicians, and it might constitute the only isolated sign of neurological disorder. The aim of this review is to describe ictal apnea (IA) and its treatment options.

METHODS

MeSH and keywords were combined: "neonatal seizures", "ictal neonatal apnea", "apneic seizures". All identified papers were screened for neonatal seizures titles and abstracts; case reports describing patients with IA as an isolated manifestation of neonatal seizures were included.

RESULTS

Eight studies including a total of 13 patients were identified. Among 13 patients, 9 were full-term and 4 were preterm neonates. All patients developed IA within twenty-one days from birth. Etiologies of seizures included: temporal lobe hemorrhage (3 pt), occipital stroke (1 pt), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) (1 pt), parasagittal injury (1 pt), 18 trisomy (2 pt). Five patients showed no structural CNS alterations. Ten patients had the ictal focus localized in the temporal lobe; the occipital lobe was the second most involved site. Phenobarbital was administered in 76 % of cases with IA (10 pt), and showed efficacy in 74 % of them; 2 required a second anti-epileptic drug (AED) to reach seizure control. Levetiracetam was given to 11 % (2 pt) successfully. Only one was treated with midazolam and one did not require any anticonvulsant.

CONCLUSIONS

Not homogeneous data and paucity of isolated IA currently reported in literature limits agreement about definition, management and treatment of entity, however an ever-growing attention is needed, and EEG/aEEG, despite their possible controversies in the diagnosis, should be performed to investigate unexplained forms of apnea.

Genetic Testing and Hospital Length of Stay in Neonates With Epilepsy

BACKGROUND

We evaluated changes in genetic testing for neonatal-onset epilepsy and associated short-term outcomes over an 8-year period among a cohort of patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a single institution before and after the introduction of sponsored genetic epilepsy testing in January 2018.

METHODS

Our primary outcome was a change in length of stay (LOS) after 2018. We also ascertained severity of illness with the Neonatal Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (nSOFA), type and result of genetic testing, turnaround time to molecular diagnosis (TAT), LOS, antiseizure medications (ASMs), and use of technology at discharge. We compared outcomes using nonparametric tests and difference-in-difference analysis.

RESULTS

Fifty-three infants with genetic testing were included; 20 infants were tested after 2018. A total of 4160 infants in the NICU without genetic testing were used as reference. In the genetic testing group, LOS was 25 days (interquartile range [IQR] 5, 49) pre-2018 and 19 days (IQR 6, 19) post-2018 (P < 0.001 when compared with the reference population in the difference-in-difference analysis). TAT decreased from 51 days to 17 days after 2018 (P = 0.003). ASM number decreased from 4 (IQR 2, 5) to 2 post-2018 (IQR 1, 3) (P = 0.02). Over the same time periods there was no significant change in birth weight, maximum nSOFA score, or technology dependence.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cohort, changes in genetic testing for neonatal-onset epilepsy were associated with shorter LOS that was not explained by changes in severity of illness, birth weight, or the average LOS in the NICU over time. Validation of these results in a larger, multicenter sample size is warranted.