Background: With increase in the incidence of preterm birth, quality of life in
premature infants who suffer from perinatal brain injury has become a major
concern. Amplitude electroencephalogram has the advantages of being simple
bedside monitoring for assessment of brain function and follow up in preterm
neonates. Aim of Study: To evaluate the aEEG changes in preterm infants
and compare it to cranial ultrasound. Patients and Methods:This was a prospective observational study conducted
at the NICU of Al Zahraa University Hospital for a period from May 2020 to May
2021. Our study was conducted on 60 preterm infants (26 - 36 w) in the first 7
days of life with exclusion of obvious congenital anomalies and hypoxic
ischemic encephalopathy patients. Cranial ultrasound was performed on all the
studied groups then aEEG recording was done for 4 hours.Results: The pattern of aEEG was discontinuous in patients
with low gestational age and in infants small for gestational age. The pattern
was also discontinuous in infants who had convulsions. Among our studied
infants who had PROM, pre-eclampsia and experienced prolonged delivery, some
infants had low voltage amplitude recording as well as infants with
intraventricular hemorrhage grade III. Conclusion: This study confirms that aEEG background activity is
strongly related to gestational age, birth weight, convulsions and IVH.
Complications during delivery alter neonatal brain activity and aEEG
background. Early aEEG combined with cranial ultrasound increases the
sensitivity for detecting abnormal neurological outcome.
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