Perinatal exposure to anoxia alone does not alter the susceptibility to amygdaloid-kindled seizures in the adult rabbit.

It is suggested that asphyxia on newborns increases the susceptibility to epileptic syndromes. The effect of perinatal and postnatal anoxia on subsequent seizure susceptibility was assessed by amygdaloid kindling in adult rabbits. Rabbits from 1 day pre-term to 53 days were exposed to 100% N2 for an average of 7 min or until the heart rate was reduced by 70%. Non-anoxic littermates served as controls. At 2 months of age, animals were implanted with bilateral amygdalae electrodes. After a postsurgical recovery period, afterdischarge (AD) thresholds were determined for the electrode sites and a kindling paradigm was performed. There were no significant differences in the rate of kindling in all groups studied (control, anoxic at 1 day pre-term or at term, anoxic at 44 and 53 days). These results demonstrate that perinatal anoxia did not alter the seizure susceptibility in the adult rabbit kindling model.