aetiology of neonatal seizures

Last reviewed 01/2018

Possible causes of convulsions in a neonate include:

• birth asphyxia or hypoxia - about half of all neonatal seizures
• birth injury with haemorrhage
• CNS infections eg such as meningitis, encephalitis - accounting for about 10% of cases. In addition to this, congenital infections are also important.
• CNS malformations
• hypoglycaemia - about 10% of cases
• hypocalcaemia - about 10% of cases
• hyponatraemia or hypernatraemia
• hyperbilirubinaemia
• hypomagnesaemia
• inherited metabolic disorders - inborn errors of metabolism. One particular error to pay attention to, if only because the treatment is easy although the condition is rare, is pyridoxine deficiency.
• narcotic withdrawal if the mother is an addict
• benign familial neonatal convulsions - fifth day fits