Neonatal seizures in a rural Kenyan District Hospital: aetiology, incidence and outcome of hospitalization
| dc.contributor.author | Gwer, S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mwaniki, M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mturi, N. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Bauni, E. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Newton, C. R. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Berkley, J. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Idro, R. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-05-14T08:10:25Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-05-14T08:10:25Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2010-03 | |
| dc.description | doi:10.1186/1741-7015-8-16 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Background: Acute seizures are common among children admitted to hospitals in resource poor countries. However, there is little data on the burden, causes and outcome of neonatal seizures in sub-Saharan Africa. We determined the minimum incidence, aetiology and immediate outcome of seizures among neonates admitted to a rural district hospital in Kenya. Methods: From 1st January 2003 to 31st December 2007, we assessed for seizures all neonates (age 0-28 days) admitted to the Kilifi District Hospital, who were resident in a defined, regularly enumerated study area. The population denominator, the number of live births in the community on 1 July 2005 (the study midpoint) was modelled from the census data. Results: Seizures were reported in 142/1572 (9.0%) of neonatal admissions. The incidence was 39.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) 26.4-56.7] per 1000 live-births and incidence increased with birth weight. The main diagnoses in neonates with seizures were sepsis in 85 (60%), neonatal encephalopathy in 30 (21%) and meningitis in 21 (15%), but only neonatal encephalopathy and bacterial meningitis were independently associated with seizures. Neonates with seizures had a longer hospitalization [median period 7 days - interquartile range (IQR) 4 to10] -compared to 5 days [IQR 3 to 8] for those without seizures, P = 0.02). Overall, there was no difference in inpatient case fatality between neonates with and without seizures but, when this outcome was stratified by birth weight, it was significantly higher in neonates >or= 2.5 kg compared to low birth weight neonates [odds ratio 1.59 (95%CI 1.02 to 2.46), P = 0.037]. Up to 13% of the surviving newborn with seizures had neurological abnormalities at discharge. Conclusion: There is a high incidence of neonatal seizures in this area of Kenya and the most important causes are neonatal encephalopathy and meningitis. The high incidence of neonatal seizures may be a reflection of the quality of the perinatal and postnatal care available to the neonates. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | BMC Medicine March 2010, 8:16, | en_US |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1741-7015 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/9496 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | BioMed Central | en_US |
| dc.title | Neonatal seizures in a rural Kenyan District Hospital: aetiology, incidence and outcome of hospitalization | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |