 Introduction/Background Epilepsy is defined as recurrent and unprovoked seizures and is one of the most common neurologic disorders. Status epilepticus is the most common neurologic emergency in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that approximately 470,000 or 0.6% of children <17 years of age suffer from epilepsy, and approximately 50,000 new cases are being diagnosed in this age group every year [1]. OR Discussion of Procedures by Variant Variant 1: Neonatal seizures, age 0 to 29 days. Initial imaging. The incidence of neonatal seizures has been estimated to be 3 per 1,000 live births per year [5]. The incidence is higher in preterm infants (57 to 132 per 1,000 live births) [6]. In the neonatal age group, seizures from acute symptomatic causes are much more common than neonatal idiopathic epilepsies [7]. Studies demonstrate that an Reprint requests to: publications@acr.org MRI Head MRI is utilized to evaluate the extent and characteristics of parenchymal brain abnormalities in neonates with seizures [10]. Because hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy is the most common cause of neonatal seizures, diffusion- weighted imaging is the most sensitive sequence to detect an abnormality when performed at the appropriate time- interval [13]. In addition, MRI has the greatest sensitivity for detecting intracranial developmental abnormalities associated with seizures, including malformations of cortical development [14]. In a study of neonates with seizures, MRI showed findings in 11.9% of patients which were not apparent on cranial US, and in 39.8% of patients, MRI contributed to a diagnosis by providing information additional to cranial US [8]. Data are being accumulated establishing the prognostic value of MRI in neonates with seizures that demonstrates that the absence of major cerebral lesions on MRI is highly predictive of a normal neurological outcome [5,15].
Seizures Child.  Introduction/Background Epilepsy is defined as recurrent and unprovoked seizures and is one of the most common neurologic disorders. Status epilepticus is the most common neurologic emergency in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that approximately 470,000 or 0.6% of children <17 years of age suffer from epilepsy, and approximately 50,000 new cases are being diagnosed in this age group every year [1]. OR Discussion of Procedures by Variant Variant 1: Neonatal seizures, age 0 to 29 days. Initial imaging. The incidence of neonatal seizures has been estimated to be 3 per 1,000 live births per year [5]. The incidence is higher in preterm infants (57 to 132 per 1,000 live births) [6]. In the neonatal age group, seizures from acute symptomatic causes are much more common than neonatal idiopathic epilepsies [7]. Studies demonstrate that an Reprint requests to: publications@acr.org MRI Head MRI is utilized to evaluate the extent and characteristics of parenchymal brain abnormalities in neonates with seizures [10]. Because hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy is the most common cause of neonatal seizures, diffusion- weighted imaging is the most sensitive sequence to detect an abnormality when performed at the appropriate time- interval [13]. In addition, MRI has the greatest sensitivity for detecting intracranial developmental abnormalities associated with seizures, including malformations of cortical development [14]. In a study of neonates with seizures, MRI showed findings in 11.9% of patients which were not apparent on cranial US, and in 39.8% of patients, MRI contributed to a diagnosis by providing information additional to cranial US [8]. Data are being accumulated establishing the prognostic value of MRI in neonates with seizures that demonstrates that the absence of major cerebral lesions on MRI is highly predictive of a normal neurological outcome [5,15].