Objectives: We aimed to determine the incidence of electrographic seizures in children in the pediatric intensive care unit who underwent EEG monitoring, risk factors for electrographic seizures, and whether electrographic seizures were associated with increased odds of mortality.Methods: Eleven sites in North America retrospectively reviewed a total of 550 consecutive children in pediatric intensive care units who underwent EEG monitoring. We collected data on demographics, diagnoses, clinical seizures, mental status at EEG onset, EEG background, interictal epileptiform discharges, electrographic seizures, intensive care unit length of stay, and in-hospital mortality.Results: Electrographic seizures occurred in 162 of 550 subjects (30%), of which 61 subjects (38%) had electrographic status epilepticus. Electrographic seizures were exclusively subclinical in 59 of 162 subjects (36%). A multivariable logistic regression model showed that independent risk factors for electrographic seizures included younger age, clinical seizures prior to EEG monitoring, an abnormal initial EEG background, interictal epileptiform discharges, and a diagnosis of epilepsy. Subjects with electrographic status epilepticus had greater odds of in-hospital death, even after adjusting for EEG background and neurologic diagnosis category.Conclusions: Electrographic seizures are common among children in the pediatric intensive care unit, particularly those with specific risk factors. Electrographic status epilepticus occurs in more than one-third of children with electrographic seizures and is associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Neurology â 2013;81:383-391 GLOSSARY CEEG 5 continuous EEG; CI 5 confidence interval; IQR 5 interquartile range; OR 5 odds ratio; PICU 5 pediatric intensive care unit.

Objectives Electrographic seizures (ES) and electrographic status epilepticus (ESE) are common in critically ill children. We aimed to determine whether ES and ESE are associated with higher mortality or worse short-term neurologic outcome. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary children’s hospital. Patients Non-neonatal children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with acute encephalopathy underwent continuous electroencephalographic (cEEG) monitoring. EEGs were scored as (1) no seizures, (2) ES, or (3) ESE. Covariates included age, acute neurologic disorder category, prior neurodevelopmental status, sex, and EEG background category. Outcomes were mortality and worsening of Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category (PCPC) from pre-admission to PICU discharge. Chi-squared analysis, Fisher’s exact test, and multivariable logistic regression were used to evaluate the associations between ES or ESE and mortality or short-term neurologic outcome, using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Interventions None Main Results Two hundred children underwent cEEG. Eighty-four (42%) had seizures which were categorized as ES in 41 (20.5%) and ESE in 43 (21.5%). Thirty-six subjects (18%) died and 88 subjects (44%) had PCPC worsening. In multivariable analysis ESE was associated with an increased risk of mortality (OR 5.1; 95%CI 1.4, 18, p=0.01) and PCPC worsening (OR 17.3; 95%CI 3.7, 80, p<0.001) while ES was not associated with an increased risk of mortality (OR 1.3; 95%CI 0.3, 5.1; p=0.74) or PCPC worsening (OR 1.2; 95%CI 0.4, 3.9; p=0.77). Conclusions ESE, but not ES, is associated with mortality and worse short-term neurologic outcome in critically ill children with acute encephalopathy.

Among children with acute neurologic disorders who were reported to be neurodevelopmentally normal before PICU admission, ESE but not ES was associated with an increased risk of unfavorable global outcome, lower health-related quality of life scores, and an increased risk of subsequently diagnosed epilepsy even after adjusting for neurologic disorder category, EEG background category, and age.

Objective To determine a) whether early electroencephalographic (EEG) background features were associated with survival and neurologic outcomes among children resuscitated from cardiac arrest and not treated with therapeutic hypothermia and b) if addition of EEG background to commonly used clinical criteria is more predictive of outcome than clinical criteria alone. Design Retrospective study. Setting Pediatric intensive care unit and Cardiac Intensive Care Units of a tertiary children’s hospital. Patients Patients resuscitated from in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who underwent clinically indicated EEG monitoring and were not treated with therapeutic hypothermia. Interventions None Measurements and Main Results One-hundred twenty-eight patients underwent EEG monitoring within one day of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Background category was normal in 4 subjects (3%), slow-disorganized in 58 subjects (45%), discontinuous - burst-suppression in 24 subjects (19%) and attenuated-flat in 42 subjects (33%). Forty-six subjects (36%) had a reactive EEG. Twenty subjects (15%) had a seizure during EEG monitoring. Absence of reactivity (p<0.001) and seizures (p=0.04) were associated with worse EEG background category. After controlling for covariates, for each incrementally worse background score, the odds of death was 3.63 (95% CI: 2.18, 6.0, p<0.001) and the odds of unfavorable neurologic outcome was 4.38 (95% CI: 2.51, 7.17, p=0.001). Conclusions Worse EEG background early after resuscitation from both in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is associated with increased odds of death and unfavorable neurologic outcomes at hospital discharge. These EEG background patterns may be used in addition to clinical criteria to support prognostic decision making.

PURPOSE To describe current continuous EEG (cEEG) utilization in critically ill children. METHODS An online survey of pediatric neurologists from 50 United States (U.S.) and 11 Canadian institutions was conducted in August 2011. RESULTS Responses were received from 58 of 61 (95%) surveyed institutions. Common cEEG indications are altered mental status after a seizure or status epilepticus (97%), altered mental status of unknown etiology (88%), or altered mental status with an acute primary neurological condition (88%). The median number of patients undergoing cEEG per month per center increased from August 2010 to August 2011 (6 to 10 per month in U.S., 2 to 3 per month in Canada). Few institutions have clinical pathways addressing cEEG use (31%). Physicians most commonly review cEEG twice per day (37%). There is variability regarding which services can order cEEG, the degree of neurology involvement, technologist availability, and whether technologists perform cEEG screening. CONCLUSIONS Among the surveyed institutions, which included primarily large academic centers, cEEG use in pediatric intensive care units is increasing and is often considered indicated for children with altered mental status at risk for non-convulsive seizures. However, there remains substantial variability in cEEG access and utilization among institutions.

PURPOSE We evaluated the validity and inter-rater reliability of encephalographer interpretation of color density spectral array (CDSA) EEG for seizure identification in critically ill children and explored predictors of accurate seizure identification. METHODS Conventional EEG tracings from 21 consecutive critically ill children were scored for electrographic seizures. Four two-hour long segments from each patient were converted to 8 channel CDSA displays, yielding 84 images. Eight encephalographers received CDSA training and circled elements thought to represent seizures. Images were reviewed in random order (Group A) or with information regarding seizure presence in the initial 30 minutes and with patient images in order (Group B). Sensitivity, specificity, and inter-rater reliability were calculated. Factors associated with CDSA seizure identification were assessed. RESULTS Seizure prevalence was 43% on conventional EEG. Specificity was significantly higher for Group A (92.3% versus 78.2%, p<0.00). Sensitivity was not significantly different between Groups A and B (64.8% versus 75%, p=0.22). Inter-rater reliability was moderate in both groups. Ten percent of images were falsely classified as containing a seizure. Seizure duration ≥2 minutes predicted identification (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS CDSA may be a useful screening tool for seizure identification by encephalographers, but it does not identify all seizures and false positives occur.

Objectives To describe the prevalence, characteristics and predictors of electrographic seizures following convulsive status epilepticus (CSE). Study design Multicenter retrospective study describing clinical and electroencephalographic (EEG) features of children (1 month-21 years) with CSE who underwent continuous EEG monitoring. Results Ninety-eight children (53 males) with a median age of 5 years with CSE underwent subsequent continuous EEG monitoring after CSE. Electrographic seizures (with or without clinical correlate) were identified in 32 subjects (33%). Eleven subjects (34.4%) had electrographic-only seizures, 17 subjects (53.1%) had electro-clinical seizures, and 4 subjects (12.5%) had an unknown clinical correlate. Of the 32 subjects with electrographic seizures, 15 subjects (46.9%) had electrographic status epilepticus. Factors associated with the occurrence of electrographic seizures after CSE were a prior diagnosis of epilepsy (p= 0.029) and the presence of interictal epileptiform discharges (p< 0.0005). The median (p25–p75) duration of stay in the pediatric intensive care unit was longer for children with electrographic seizures than for children without electrographic seizures [9.5 (3–22.5) versus 2 (2–5) days, Wilcoxon test, Z=3.916, p=0.0001]. Four children (4.1%) died before leaving the hospital and we could not identify a relationship between death and the presence or absence of electrographic seizures. Conclusions Following CSE, one-third of children who underwent EEG monitoring experienced electrographic seizures, and among these, one-third experienced entirely electrographic-only seizures. A prior diagnosis of epilepsy and the presence of interictal epileptiform discharges were risk factors for electrographic seizures.

El desarrollo del sistema nervioso es un proceso complejo que tiene como resultado la maduración de las estructuras, la adquisición de habilidades y, finalmente, la formación del individuo como persona única. La presente revisión recoge información acerca de las principales características de los procesos de desarrollo cerebral, las características del desarrollo neurológico normal en las diferentes áreas: motora gruesa y fina, lenguaje, sensorial y socialización; se acompaña también de una descripción de las principales alteraciones en el desarrollo, identificables en la consulta diaria del pediatra. Nuestro objetivo es reforzar el conocimiento en esta área clave de la evaluación del niño menor de cinco años para detectar problemas con la debida antelación para su intervención oportuna.