Remote Monitoring for Seizures During Therapeutic Hypothermia in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy.

Importance: Neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH) frequently experience seizures, which are associated with adverse outcomes. Efforts to rapidly identify seizures and reduce seizure burden may positively change neurologic and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Objective: To describe the onset, treatment, and evolution of seizures in a large cohort of newborns with HIE during TH assisted by a telehealth model and remote neuromonitoring approach. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study performed between July 2017 and December 2021 in 32 hospitals in Brazil. Participants were newborns with HIE meeting eligibility criteria and receiving TH. Data were analyzed from November 2022 to April 2023. Exposure: Infants with HIE receiving TH were remotely monitored with 3-channel amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) including raw tracing and video imaging, and bedside clinicians received assistance from trained neonatologists and neurologists. Main Outcomes and Measures: Data on modified Sarnat examination, presence, timing and seizure type, aEEG background activity, sleep-wake cycling, and antiepileptic drugs used were collected. Descriptive statistical analysis was used with independent t test, χ2, Mann-Whitney test, and post hoc analyses applied for associations. Results: A total of 872 cooled newborns were enrolled; the median (IQR) gestational age was 39 (38-40) weeks, 518 (59.4%) were male, and 59 (6.8%) were classified as having mild encephalopathy by modified Sarnat examination, 504 (57.8%) as moderate, and 180 (20.6%) as severe. Electrographic seizures were identified in 296 newborns (33.9%), being only electrographic in 213 (71.9%) and clinical followed by electroclinical uncoupling in 50 (16.9%). Early abnormal background activity had a significant association with seizures. Infants with flat trace had the highest rate of seizures (58 infants [68.2%]) and the greatest association with the incidence of seizures (odds ratio [OR], 12.90; 95% CI, 7.57-22.22) compared with continuous normal voltage. The absence of sleep-wake cycling was also associated with a higher occurrence of seizures (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.67-2.96). Seizure onset was most frequent between 6 and 24 hours of life (181 infants [61.1%]); however, seizure occurred in 34 infants (11.5%) during rewarming. A single antiepileptic drug controlled seizures in 192 infants (64.9%). The first line antiepileptic drug was phenobarbital in 294 (99.3%). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of newborns with HIE treated with TH, electrographic seizure activity occurred in 296 infants (33.9%) and was predominantly electrographic. Seizure control was obtained with a single antiepileptic drug in 192 infants (64.9%). These findings suggest neonatal neurocritical care can be delivered at remote limited resource hospitals due to innovations in technology and telehealth.

Simultaneous Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and Amplitude-Integrated Electroencephalography (aEEG): Dual Use of Brain Monitoring Techniques Improves Our Understanding of Physiology.

Continuous brain monitoring tools are increasingly being used in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to assess brain function and cerebral oxygenation in neonates at high risk for brain injury. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is useful in critically ill neonates as a trend monitor to evaluate the balance between tissue oxygen delivery and consumption, providing cerebral and somatic oximetry values, and allowing earlier identification of abnormalities in hemodynamics and cerebral perfusion. Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) is a method for continuous monitoring of cerebral function at the bedside. Simultaneous use of both monitoring modalities may improve the understanding of alterations in hemodynamics and risk of cerebral injury. Several studies have described correlations between aEEG and NIRS monitoring, especially in infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), but few describe the combined use of both monitoring techniques in a wider range of clinical scenarios. We review the use of NIRS and aEEG in neonates and describe four cases where abnormal NIRS values were immediately followed by changes in brain activity as seen on aEEG allowing the impact of a hemodynamic disturbance on the brain to be correlated with the changes in the aEEG background pattern. These four clinical scenarios demonstrate how simultaneous neuromonitoring with aEEG and NIRS provides important clinical information. We speculate that routine use of these combined monitoring modalities may become the future standard for neonatal neuromonitoring.