NEONATAL SEIZURES IN VERY PRETERM AND VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS - MORTALITY AND HANDICAPS AT 2 YEARS OF AGE IN A NATIONWIDE COHORT

In a nationwide, prospective survey on very preterm and/or very low birthweight infants (< 32 weeks of gestational age and/or < 1500g birthweight) we studied the outcome at the corrected age of two years of children with neonatal seizures. Of the 1388 infants, originally enrolled in the study, 72 had neonatal seizures; of these 44 died and 11 developed a major handicap. Using a multivariate statistical method, a significantly increased risk of death as well as handicap was found in infants with seizures compared to infants without seizures. Nevertheless, 16 of the 28 survivirs with neonatal seizures were considered normal at the corrected age of two years.