Background: With increase in the incidence of preterm birth, quality of life in premature infants who suffer from perinatal brain injury has become a major concern. Amplitude electroencephalogram has the advantages of being simple bedside monitoring for assessment of brain function and follow up in preterm neonates. Aim of Study: To evaluate the aEEG changes in preterm infants and compare it to cranial ultrasound. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted at the NICU of Al Zahraa University Hospital for a period from May 2020 to May 2021. Our study was conducted on 60 preterm infants (26 -36 w) in the first 7 days of life with exclusion of obvious congenital anomalies and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy patients. Cranial ultrasound was performed on all the studied groups then aEEG recording was done for 4 hours. Results: The pattern of aEEG was discontinuous in patients with low gestational age and in infants small for gestational age. The pattern was also discontinuous in infants who had convulsions. Among our studied infants who had PROM, pre-eclampsia and experienced prolonged delivery, some infants had low voltage amplitude recording as well as infants with intraventricular hemorrhage grade III. Conclusion: This study confirms that aEEG background activity is strongly related to gestational age, birth weight, convulsions and IVH. Complications during delivery alter neonatal brain activity and aEEG background. Early aEEG combined with cranial ultrasound increases the sensitivity for detecting abnormal neurological outcome.

Background: EEG is one of the most sensitive instrumental techniques for identifying sepsis-related neurological complications and a valuable tool in the ICU when clinical assessment is difficult. Aim of the Study: To detect EEG changes in neonates with evidence of sepsis. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective observational study for detecting EEG changes in cases of proven neonatal sepsis. This study was conducted at the NICU of Al Zahraa University Hospital for a period from October 2019 to March 2020. Our studied neonates were 50. This study included full-term newborns (37 to 42 weeks of gestational age) with clinical and laboratory evidence of sepsis (early and late onset). Neonatal birth asphyxia, jaundice, congenital malformations, suspected inborn error of metabolism and neonates electrolytes disturbances were excluded from the study. We record EEG changes during 20 min By an electroencephalogram (EEG) with abioelectric amplifier (Deltamed, Bourgogne), (Philips) Screen. Results: Among our studied neonates (neonates with evidence sepsis), 44.0% developed clinical seizures, 81% of the seizures group had abnormal EEG, 35.7% of No seizures group had abnormal EEG. Among our studied neonates, 56% had abnormal EEG EEG abnormalities were as follow, 26%/ had low voltage, 30% had spikes, 22% had sharp waves. Conclusion: About 35% (one third) of neonates who didn't develop clinical seizures had abnormal EEG, suggesting a poor correlation between clinical and electroencephalographic detection of seizures.