Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography in preterm infants with cystic periventricular leukomalacia

Aim: This study aimed to assess amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) findings in preterm infants with cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL) in the early neonatal period. Methods: We analyzed five infants with cPVL, whose gestational age was between 27 and 30 weeks, and 15 matched control infants. Two-channel (C3-O1 and C4-O2) aEEG was obtained by digital conversion from a conventional electroencephalogram, which was recorded at days 0-5, 6-13, and 21-34 in each infant. We evaluated the averaged two-channel values of several measurements using visual and quantitative analyses. Results: Infants with cPVL had a significant higher maximal upper-margin amplitude value, with a median of 47.5 mu V (range of 42.5-60) compared with the control infants (median, 33.8; range, 23.8-50) in the second visual-analysis record. Infants with cPVL also had a significantly higher mean upper-margin amplitude value, with a median of 18.8 mu V (range, 17.7-23.2) compared with the control infants (median, 16.3; range, 10.3-19.0) in the second quantitative-analysis record. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the upper-margin amplitude of aEEG in infants with cPVL was significantly higher than that in the control infants at 6-13 days after birth. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.