Cumulative Epilepsy Risk Higher After Neonatal Seizures
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2025 -- The highest risk for epilepsy after neonatal seizures appears to be within the first year of life, according to a study published online Feb. 19 in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology.
Jeanette Tinggaard, Ph.D., from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues estimated the cumulative risk for epilepsy after neonatal seizures and identified subpopulations at increased risk in a register-based cohort study involving all children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018.
A total of 1,294,377 children were followed, and 1,998 neonatal survivors of neonatal seizures were identified. The researchers found that the cumulative risk for epilepsy was 20.4 and 1.15 percent among children with and without neonatal seizures, respectively. Among children with neonatal seizures, epilepsy was diagnosed before 1 year of age in 11.4 percent, between 1 and 5 years in 4.5 percent, between 5 and 10 years in 3.1 percent, and between 10 and 22 years in 1.4 percent. Compared with children with seizures of unknown etiology, the etiologies of cerebral infarction, hemorrhage, or malformations and low Apgar score were associated with the highest risk for epilepsy (adjusted hazard ratios, 2.49 and 1.49, respectively).
"Our study confirms a substantial risk of epilepsy after neonatal seizures in neonatal survivors, with the highest risk observed in the first year of life but persisting into adolescence," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted February 2025
Read this next
Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy Can Improve Outcomes
FRIDAY, May 2, 2025 -- For mothers with opioid use disorder (OUD), treatment with buprenorphine in pregnancy is associated with improved maternal and infant outcomes, according to...
USPSTF Recommends Counseling to Prevent Perinatal Depression
FRIDAY, April 25, 2025 -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends counseling for women at increased risk for perinatal depression (PND). This recommendation...
More Than 3.6 Million Births Recorded in the United States in 2024, Up 1 Percent From 2023
WEDNESDAY, April 23, 2025 -- In 2024, the provisional number of births in the United States was 3,622,673, which was 1 percent higher than in 2023, according to an April Vital...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.