Prognosis of Neonatal Seizures

THE occurrence of seizures during the neonatal period is a significant problem. The incidence has been quoted from a low value of 0.2%¹to as high as 0.8%²of all live births. Of the many articles on this subject, few have attempted to evaluate the prognosis and only one has correlated etiology with prognosis. The purpose of this paper is to review this material and to describe the etiology and its relation to the prognosis of seizures occurring in neonates admitted to The Children's Hospital during a 12-year period. Review of Literature Despite the extensive literature on neonatal seizures, only six authors have dealt directly with prognosis.¹⁻⁶Their results are summarized in Table 1. The overall prognosis for the neonate with seizures is poor. Approximately 40% of the infants died within the first two years of life, the majority during the first two months. Another 19%