EFFECTS OF THERAPY (DIAZEPAM, PHENOBARBITAL) ON THE EEG IN NEWBORN BABIES DURING THE 1ST 24 HOURS OF TREATMENT

The poor prognostic significance of inactive or paroxystic E.E.G. recordings in new-born babies appears to be well established (Monod et al., ibid, 1972, 32, 529-544). However, some cases have been described as having a favourable evolution even though such tracings had been present during the neonatal period. The authors studied, therefore, the effects of anticonvulsants (diazepam, phenobarbital) to see if they produced inactive or paroxystic tracings. A total of 19 new-born babies with convulsions of various etiologies were treated with phenobarbital and diazepam and recordings were made less than 24 hours after the beginning of treatment. Plasma levels were measured at the time of recording and varied from 3 to 26 μg/ml for phenobarbital and 0 to 2.75 μg/ml for diazepam. No paroxystic tracings were noted, but 2 inactive tracings were seen in infants who had been severely asphyxiated at birth, and in whom the plasma levels of the anticonvulsants was found to be low. The injection of diazepam during the E.E.G. recording caused suppression of electrical discharges without notably altering the inter-seizure E.E.G. activity. The authors conclude that in the 19 cases studied the changes noted in the E.E.G. were related to the severity of the condition and were not secondary to therapy. © 1979 Masson, Paris.