ABSTRACT
Newborn infants with seizures but without neonatal encephalopathy are more likely to have focal hemorrhagic or ischemic lesions as an underlying diagnosis. 137 Presentation is usually beyond the first 12 h, in contrast to those with HIE. Hemiconvulsions may initially be the presenting symptom and are further suggestive of a unilateral lesion. In unilateral or asymmetric brain lesions, e.g. middle cerebral artery infarction, unilateral watershed infarction, or a focal parenchymal hemorrhage, concomitant asymmetry of the EEG background activity is common. It has been shown that the EEG background activity over the affected hemisphere is sensitive for prediction of later outcome, a normal background being predictive of normal outcome, while an abnormal background increases the risk that the infant will develop a hemiplegia. 138
