Recooling for rebound seizures after rewarming in neonatal encephalopathy

Abstract

Infants undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy are at risk for rebound seizures during and after the rewarming phase. We report a term male infant who was cooled for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. He developed electrographic seizures for the first time during the warming phase, which continued in the hours after rewarming. The seizures stopped within 30 minutes of recooling to 33.5°C without anticonvulsant medication. He was uneventfully cooled for an additional 24 hours and then rewarmed with no recurrence of seizures. Hypothermia appeared to have an antiepileptic effect in this case and may be worthy of additional investigation as an adjunct to antiepileptic drug therapy in newborns.