[Emergency electroencephalography during perinatal cerebral intensive care: indications and results].

The main contribution of EEG during intensive care in infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is i) to help determine whether infants with subtle clinical manifestations present with epileptic seizures, ii) to determine whether paralyzed or heavily sedated infants present with convulsive phenomena, iii) to assess the therapeutical response to anticonvulsants, 4) to contribute, in combination with ultrasound scanning, to diagnostic evaluation of the severity of lesions, and to provide valuable prognostic informations via the analysis of the background activity, as normal EEG is highly predictive of normal outcome, whereas various abnormal EEG features are constantly associated with subsequent major neurological abnormalities or death. These EEG features are readily available from a very early stage and may both precede and be prognostically more sensitive than information obtained from ultrasound. Recording of neonatal electroencephalogram requires awareness of the normal development of electroencephalographic features in the newborn, skilled technicians, and experienced readers of EEG tracings.