Evaluation of seizure etiology in convulsive neonates admitted to Imam Khomeini and Abozar hospitals of Ahvaz 2004-2007

The presence of neonatal seizures often signals an underlying ominous neurologic condition. The etiologies of neonatal seizure include; hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, central nervous system infections, intracranial hemorrhage, central nervous system malformation, acute metabolic disorders, inborn error of metabolism and others with lower frequencies. The aim of this study was to determine the etiologic distribution of neonatal seizure and correlation of age, gender, weight and route of delivery with neonatal seizures.Subjects and Detailed questionnaires were retrospectively collected for a period of 3 years (2004-2007) on 94 infants experienced seizure at presentation in hospital, During the period of this study 94 neonate patients with convulsion were admitted. Seventy nine percent of them had seizure during the first 14 days of life. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was found to be the most common cause (34%) of neonatal seizures, followed by intracranial hemorrhage (13%), hypoglycemia (10%), meningitis (6%), hypocalcaemia (3%) and inborn error of metabolism (3%). This study showed that birth asphyxia is the most common etiology of neonatal seizures. In 31 percent of patients no pathologic factor was found.