Provoked Neonatal Seizures and Neonatal Onset Epilepsy

Children are at highest risk for seizures during the first month of life. Seizures in newborns are usually symptomatic of an underlying acute brain injury (such as hypoxic-ischemic injury or stroke) and are rarely manifestations of epilepsy syndromes. Like other critically ill patient populations, most seizures in the neonatal period are subclinical—they have no outward manifestation—and are most accurately diagnosed by electroencephalography. Herein, we review the pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term implications of seizures in neonates.