[EEG changes following perinatal asphyxia].

The EEG was studied in 46 pre-term and 43 full-term babies to evaluate its usefulness in estimating the degree of perinatal asphyxia. During the first 12 hours after a severe perinatal asphyxia isoelectric periods (IEP) of abnorm long duration are dominant in the EEG-records of pre-term and full-term babies and remain dominant in EEG-records of pre-term babies during the second 12 hour-period. During the first 12 hour-period in the EEG-records of full-term babies epileptic seizure patterns (ESP) appear sporadically, while in the second 12 hour-period they increase with respect to number and duration and often become even dominant within single records. During the second and third day of life ESP decrease in the EEG-records of full-term babies. IEP remain dominant in about 30% in the EEG-records of pre-term babies. During episodes of bradycardia with or without apnoea a three to fourfold increase of IEP is seen. Therefore an increase of number and/or duration of episodes of bradycardia does not seem to be without importance for cerebral function.