| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3043103 | Clinical Neurophysiology | 2012 | 15 Pages |
ObjectiveTo assess the strength of association between alternative measures of electroencephalographic (EEG) signal peak-to-peak amplitude (ppA) and postmenstrual age (PMA) among a cohort of extremely premature infants.Methods177 Two-channel EEG recordings 3–6 h long were collected from 26 infants born before 29 weeks of gestation. The raw EEG was converted into four different continuous measures of ppA: amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG), range-EEG (rEEG), Gotman and Gloor’s half-wave decomposition (HWD), and root of mean squares (RMS). For each ppA-measure EEG indices including mean, median, and 5% margins; indices of spread (width, standard deviation, coefficient of variation), and asymmetry were calculated for each 1 min epoch. The medians of each index for the entire recording were tested for association with PMA using linear mixed models.ResultsThe log-transformed values of aEEG and rEEG indices of spread were highly associated with PMA (fixed effects Rβ2 = 0.84–0.89).ConclusionsIndices of spread by aEEG or rEEG can be used as indicators of neonatal brain maturation. However, rEEG produces the absolute values that most closely approximate the raw EEG amplitudes.SignificanceThe indices of spread and rEEG as a measure of ppA provide a basis for improvements in neonatal EEG monitoring.
► A comprehensive study of brain maturation in premature infants using four different measures of EEG amplitude, including amplitude-integrated EGG (aEEG), the most widely used for neonatal brain monitoring, as well as the recently developed range-EEG (rEEG). ► All four measures of amplitude exhibit similar patterns and can be used as relative representations of this measure over time, but only rEEG provides a reasonable estimate of the absolute value of amplitude. ► The log-transformed values of aEEG and rEEG indices of spread were most closely associated with post-menstrual age (fixed effects Rβ2=0.84–0.89) and, thus are likely to represent indices of brain maturation.
