EEG newborn 60 min vs. 30 min

Introduction Electroencephalography (EEG) has been widely used in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) for assessment and monitoring of brain function in preterm and term babies. The most common indications are the diagnosis of epileptic seizures or other kinds of events, assessment of brain maturity, and recovery/prognosis from hypoxic-ischemic events. EEG recording techniques have dramatically improved, but there is still a lot to understand and to do. The aim of this poster is to determine the occurrence of quiet sleep in the NICU during 1 h EEG recording. To determine the occurrence of quiet sleep in EEG in the NICU as well as the factors which influence its appearance and recognition the need of 1 h instead of half hour recording EEG. Materials and methods A prospective review was conducted of all newborn patients who were admitted or transferred to the NICU from February 2013 to April 2013 (35 patients) with an unexplained decrease in level of consciousness or no overt clinical seizures. Results Thirty out of 35 patients who met the criteria for inclusion in the study were found to have quiet sleep. A part of the group (16/35) had quiet sleep in the first half hour. Most of them (14/16) without touching or nurse assistance during the recording. The largest group of patients (18/35) did not have quiet sleep in the first half hour due to electrode problems, nurse assistance or ambient/surrounding disturbances. And 5/35 did not fall asleep in the recording. In this last group, (13/18), had quiet sleep in the half hour left, when the ambiental problems stopped it. A small group of patients (5/18) had many arousals due to intrinsic reasons, such as neurological or metabolic conditions. In the smallest sample group (1/35) we were not able to tell the difference between the awake state and the quiet sleep due to prematurity of the brain/severe encephalopathy. In the remainder, the variability of do not have quiet sleep in the first 30 min included: Tech’s manipulation (39%), nurses (28%), epilepsy-related seizure (5%), and others (22%). Conclusion Quiet sleep is an environment and process related. Almost half of the patients were not having quiet sleep due to extrinsic factors. This report highlights the importance of paying close attention to the tech and the timing of the recording in order to guarantee that we have quiet sleep in the NICU patients. Acknowledgement To Sick Kids Hospital and Hospital Universitario La Fe.