Do seizures in newborns increase children’s risk of developing epilepsy?

Seizures in newborns are one of the most frequent acute neurological conditions among infants admitted to neonatal care units. A study published in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology indicates that newborns experiencing such neonatal seizures face an elevated risk of developing epilepsy.

For the study, investigators analyzed data on all children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018, with the goal of comparing the risk of epilepsy in children with and without neonatal seizures.

Among 1,294,377 children, the researchers identified 1,998 who experienced neonatal seizures. The cumulative risk of epilepsy was 20.4% among children with neonatal seizures compared with 1.15% among children without. This indicates that 1 in 5 newborns with neonatal seizures will develop epilepsy.

Epilepsy was diagnosed before 1 year of age in 11.4% of children with neonatal seizures, in an additional 4.5% between 1 and 5 years, 3.1% between 5 and 10 years, and 1.4% between 10 and 22 years. Stroke, hemorrhage, or structural brain malformations in newborns, as well as low Apgar scores, were associated with the highest risks of developing epilepsy.

“Our study highlights that there are risk factors that may be used to identify infants for tailored follow-up and preventive measures,” said corresponding author Jeanette Tinggaard, MD, PhD, of Copenhagen University Hospital – Rigshospitalet. “Importantly, four out of five neonatal survivors with a history of neonatal seizures did not develop epilepsy, and we suggest future studies to explore a potential genetic predisposition.”

Reference:

Jeanette Tinggaard, Signe V. Pedersen, Mads L. Larsen, Andreas K. Jensen, Gorm Greisen, Bo M. Hansen, Christina E. Hoei-Hansen, The risk of epilepsy after neonatal seizures, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.16255