elahe movahedi moghadam

Seizure is a common sign in neonates hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) that may lead to morbidity and mortality. Most neonatal seizures are subclinical. Conventional EEG (cEEG) is the gold standard for detecting and monitoring seizures but is not widely available. Amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) has been used for over a decade to evaluate infants with seizures. In this study, we tried to determine the efficacy of aEEG as
a widely available diagnostic tool in diagnosing seizures.

All cases with seizures or suspicious seizures were admitted to the NICU of the Children’s Medical Center for one year. cEEG and aEEG were performed for these infants. aEEG was recorded for at least six hours with a description of the tracing. Clinical information, outcomes, and questionnaires (patient information) were recorded in detail. The obtained data were analyzed with the SPSS version 24 software.

Eleven out of twenty-five aEEG recordings were abnormal; other patients showed normal aEEGs. The most common clinical and neurological manifestations were seizure (68%) and hypotonia (28%); the mortality rate was 12%. No significant correlation was observed between aEEG findings and gender, age, familial relation, outcome, ultrasound result, type of seizure, and underlying disease.

Bronchogenic cysts (BCs) are congenital abnormalities of the primitive foregut, which are commonly found in the lung and mediastinum; however, they may rarely occur in the retroperitoneal region.

Case report:

 We present a case of 20-day-old male newborn with a prenatal diagnosis of an abdominal mass who was referred and admitted to our hospital for further evaluation. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography scan demonstrated a retroperitoneal ill-defined solid mass locating on the upper ridge of the left kidney in close contact with the posterior wall of the stomach and pressure effects on the spleen hilum. Concerning presumptive diagnosis of neuroblastoma, less likely Wilms tumor, and subdiaphragmatic sequestration, surgery was carried out, and the mass removed completely. Pathological examination revealed a multiloculated cystic-solid mass with cystic spaces which was lined by respiratory epithelium, and the underlying fibrotic stroma contained islands of mature cartilage consistent with the diagnosis of bronchogenic cyst.

Although BCs rarely occur, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a retroperitoneal mass in the neonates.