Rapid oscillatory activity in delta brushes of premature and term neonatal EEG

We compared frequency and power of neonatal EEG delta brush rapid oscillatory activity (ROA) using multiple band frequency analysis (MBFA) in three groups; pre-term (PT, post-conceptional age 33–35.6 weeks, n = 5); full-term (FT, 39.4–40.6 weeks, n = 5) and pre-term or full-term with phenobarbital exposure (PB, n = 5). Mean number of delta brushes analyzed was 29.4 (range 26–47) in PT, 20.8 (14–33) in FT and 20 (7–37) in PB. Mean frequency ± standard deviation (s.d.) was 16.9 ± 2.1 Hz (range 15–20 Hz) in PT, 17.3 ± 1.9 Hz (15–20 Hz) in FT and 16.1 ± 1.6 Hz (14–19 Hz) in PB. Mean power ± s.d. was 22.9 ± 6.2 μV2 (range 16–39 μV2) in PT, 11.9 ± 4.1 μV2 (7–19 μV2) in FT and 17.1 ± 6.2 μV2 (9–26 μV2) in PB. Power was significantly higher in PT than FT (p < 0.005). Power after merging PB into respective PT (PT′, n = 8) and FT (FT′, n = 7) groups, remained significantly higher in PT′ (mean ± s.d. 21.8 ± 7.4 μV2) than FT′ (11.4 ± 3.6 μV2) (p < 0.05). We characterise ROA in delta brushes in maturing neonates using MBFA, which may provide additional information for assessing future seizure recurrence and epilepsy risk.