Journal of Neonatal Biology

Neonatal Seizures

Neonatal seizures are the epileptic fits occurring from birth to the end of the neonatal period. It is also known as neonatal convulsions. These differ from those of older children and adults. Symptoms include tonic, horizontal deviation of the eyes with or without jerking, eyelid blinking or fluttering, sucking, smacking or other oral–buccal–lingual movements, swimming or pedalling movements.

Neonatal seizures or neonatal convulsions are epileptic fits occurring from birth to the end of the neonatal period. The neonatal period is the most vulnerable of all periods of life for developing seizures, particularly in the first 1–2 days to the first week from birth. They may be short-lived events lasting for a few days only. However, they often signify serious malfunction of or damage to the immature brain and constitute a neurological emergency demanding urgent diagnosis and management. The prevalence of neonatal seizures is 1.5% and overall incidence is 3 per 1000 live births. The incidence in pre-term infants is very high (57–132 per 1000 live births). Most (80%) neonatal seizures occur in the first 1–2 days to the first week of life.