Predictive value of the amplitude integrated EEG in infants with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: data from a randomised trial of therapeutic hypothermia

The amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) is reputed to be one of the best predictors of neurological outcome following hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy in term newborns and was used to select infants into trials of neuroprotection with hypothermia, but its predictive value and the effect of moderate hypothermia on the aEEG have not previously been examined in a randomised study. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the aEEG recorded within 6 h of birth for death or disability at 18 months of age was determined in 314 infants born after 35 weeks gestation who were randomised to receive standard care with or without cooling for 72 h. The aEEG was classified according to voltage and by pattern. The PPV of a severely abnormal aEEG assessed by the voltage and pattern methods was 0.63 and 0.59 respectively in non-cooled infants and 0.55 and 0.51 in cooled infants (p>0.05). Although the differences in PPV between cooled and non-cooled groups were not significant, they are consistent with observational studies showing a lower PPV in infants treated with hypothermia, probably due to a neuroprotective effect of cooling.