Having a Baby

Let us know about seizures in newborns through a story. We shall see how parents fought for the life of their beloved one. Jane the just born baby was put on a breathing apparatus in the neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Her mom thought that she had lost her child for ever and she was also worried that this seizure in her baby will bring in some lasting brain damage. Then her doctors told her that her child was getting seizures and was to be cared for with Phenobarbital. Actually the whole episode took away the strength from the mom but she had the courage to fight and now her child that is Jane is 2 years old and is off from Phenobarbital for the past 6 months. She has not yet, till today had any seizures after leaving the hospital.

Thus seizures in neonates are not the same as in older children or adults. The seizures often are disconnected as the baby’s brain is still growing and is not capable to make the synchronized reactions which are distinctive of a comprehensive tonic-colonic seizure. The symptoms are that the baby will have jolting or tightening of a leg or an arm which keeps on changing from side to side. Sometimes the whole of the upper body will jerk forward. Sometimes both legs may jerk towards the stomach with the knees bent. The baby’s facial appearance, inhalation, and heart rate may alter. Damage of receptiveness is a critical factor in determining many cases of seizures in children but not so in newborns. Parents will discover this impairment only when the newborn is not attracted by the voices.

Sometimes experts also face difficulty in making out seizures in newborns. Regular babies have several unexpected, short-lived jerks, makes a face, gazes, and mouth actions that might hint epilepsy in an older child or adult.

Epilepsy in an infant can be diagnosed if:
• Behavioral alterations are not distinctive.
• The behavioral changes are not distinctive of children of the same age (some parents videotape the suspected behavior at home for viewing by the doctor)
• Recurring episodes are one and the same in their behavioral characteristics and length
• The episodes take place when the infant is awake or asleep
• The episodes are not brought in on by alterations in position or movement, or it cannot be stopped by mild maneuvering of the arm or leg.

The electroencephalogram (EEG), which is generally very supportive in explaining seizures, is more complex to infer in newborns. Even though the normal and abnormal course of brain electrical action in newborns are clearly defined now but still areas of doubt still lives and only specifically trained pediatric neurologists can skillfully understand newborn EEG patterns.