Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar;62(3):615-628.
doi: 10.1111/epi.16815. Epub 2021 Feb 1.

The ILAE classification of seizures and the epilepsies: Modification for seizures in the neonate. Position paper by the ILAE Task Force on Neonatal Seizures

Ronit M Pressler  1   2 , Maria Roberta Cilio  3 , Eli M Mizrahi  4 , Solomon L Moshé  5   6 , Magda L Nunes  7 , Perrine Plouin  8 , Sampsa Vanhatalo  9 , Elissa Yozawitz  5   6 , Linda S de Vries  10 , Kollencheri Puthenveettil Vinayan  11 , Chahnez C Triki  12 , Jo M Wilmshurst  13 , Hitoshi Yamamoto  14 , Sameer M Zuberi  15
Affiliations

The ILAE classification of seizures and the epilepsies: Modification for seizures in the neonate. Position paper by the ILAE Task Force on Neonatal Seizures

Ronit M Pressler et al. Epilepsia. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Seizures are the most common neurological emergency in the neonatal period and in contrast to those in infancy and childhood, are often provoked seizures with an acute cause and may be electrographic-only. Hence, neonatal seizures may not fit easily into classification schemes for seizures and epilepsies primarily developed for older children and adults. A Neonatal Seizures Task Force was established by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) to develop a modification of the 2017 ILAE Classification of Seizures and Epilepsies, relevant to neonates. The neonatal classification framework emphasizes the role of electroencephalography (EEG) in the diagnosis of seizures in the neonate and includes a classification of seizure types relevant to this age group. The seizure type is determined by the predominant clinical feature. Many neonatal seizures are electrographic-only with no evident clinical features; therefore, these are included in the proposed classification. Clinical events without an EEG correlate are not included. Because seizures in the neonatal period have been shown to have a focal onset, a division into focal and generalized is unnecessary. Seizures can have a motor (automatisms, clonic, epileptic spasms, myoclonic, tonic), non-motor (autonomic, behavior arrest), or sequential presentation. The classification allows the user to choose the level of detail when classifying seizures in this age group.

Keywords: EEG; classification; epilepsy; neonatal seizures; semiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

REFERENCES

    1. Engle WA. Age terminology during the perinatal period. Pediatrics. 2004;114(5):1362-4.
    1. WHO. Pretermbirth, fact sheet, 2016.
    1. Lanska MJ, Lanska DJ, Baumann RJ, Kryscio RJ. A population-based study of neonatal seizures in Fayette County, Kentucky. Neurology. 1995;45(4):724-32.
    1. Pellegrin S, Munoz FM, Padula M, Heath PT, Meller L, Top K, et al. Neonatal seizures: Case definition & guidelines for data collection, analysis, and presentation of immunization safety data. Vaccine. 2019;37(52):7596-609.
    1. Ronen GM, Penney S, Andrews W. The epidemiology of clinical neonatal seizures in Newfoundland: a population-based study. J Pediatr. 1999;134(1):71-5.