P.055 A clinical pathway of combined EEG monitoring in high-risk critically ill neonates

Abstract

Background: overtreatment of neonatal seizures may result in neurological morbidity. aEEG, despite low sensitivity, is widely used, for ease of bedside interpretation. vEEG, is a limited resource needing expert interpretation. We hypothesize that using aEEG combined with vEEG will increase the sensitivity and specificity of seizure detection and reduce anti-convulsants use compared to aEEG alone. Methods: Prospective cohort of neonates admitted to CHEO NICU with suspected seizures between April 1^st 2018 to present. Seizures (clinical/aEEG) were documented by bedside clinicians and compared to the vEEG. Bedside clinicians could call a neurologist for remote review of the vEEG. Outcomes include concordance of aEEG and vEEG events and number of episodes where management was changed based on both readings Results: 27 patients had both modalities recording simultaneously. No seizure was identified by either modality in 23 recordings. Seizures were identified in 4 vEEG recordings; the aEEG partially identified these seizures.

• aEEG specificity of 0.87, negative predictive value 0.8, sensitivity 0.44 and positive predictive value 0.57

• Bedside clinician contacted a neurologist 9 times; in 2 cases, this prevented unnecessary treatment.

Conclusions: In this small sample, aEEG had good specificity for ruling out seizures, but low sensitivity for detecting them. The new combined pathway may prevent unnecessary treatment.