Neonatal seizures. Neonatal seizures can lead to serious consequences for newborns, including long-term morbidity and mortality. In high-resource neonatal intensive care units, screening for seizures with CEEG has become commonplace and is considered standard of care. Accurate seizure prediction can help optimize the allocation of CEEG resources and improve care for critically ill neonates. In our recent study, we aimed to develop seizure prediction models using data extracted from standardized EEG reports. Here is a brief overview of our findings using real-world data to predict seizures in neonates.
Tag Archives: neonatal seizures
Genetic testing in early-onset epilepsies: approaching a new consensus?
Early-onset epilepsies. In recent years, we have discovered several causative genes for severe epilepsies beginning in the first year of life, including KCNQ2, SCN2A, and STXBP1. Several studies have reported a high yield of diagnostic genetic testing, including NGS panel approaches and whole exome sequencing, particularly in patients with seizure onset in the neonatal period where detection rates are often reported to be above 50%. Two recent studies add to the growing pile of evidence that genetic testing, and in particular NGS-based testing methods, are valuable in the diagnostic workup of children presenting with seizures early in life. Will these two studies help push us towards a new consensus regarding genetic testing in epilepsy?
Salt matters – SIK1 in epileptic encephalopathies
Inducible. Next generation sequencing technologies have the tremendous potential to identify disease-causing genes in a hypothesis-free manner. In a recent publication in the American Journal of Human Genetics, mutations in the gene for the salt-inducible kinase 1 (SIK1) are found in patients with early onset epileptic encephalopathy. In addition to a previously unknown functional network related to intracellular salt in the CNS, the authors demonstrate a peculiar mutational mechanism – activating truncation mutations. Continue reading
Hidden neurometabolic disorders – the expanding spectrum of PNPO deficiency
Pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP). PNPO deficiency is a rare neurometabolic disease that presents with severe neonatal epilepsy responsive to pyridoxal phosphate. While the classical clinical presentation is well described, there might be milder versions of this potentially treatable neurometabolic disease that have not been recognized so far. In a recent publication in Brain, the phenotypic spectrum of PNPO deficiency is revisited. In addition to the classical neonatal phenotype, the authors identify patients with later onset and atypical response to pyridoxal phosphate. In addition, they identify a rare, potentially causative PNPO variant that probably gets stuck in most exome filtering pipelines. Continue reading
