Burst-suppression is reactive to photic stimulation in comatose children with acquired brain injury

TY - JOUR

T1 - Burst-suppression is reactive to photic stimulation in comatose children with acquired brain injury

AU - Nita, Dragos A.

AU - Moldovan, Mihai

AU - Sharma, Roy

AU - Avramescu, Sinziana

AU - Otsubo, Hiroshi

AU - Hahn, Cecil D.

PY - 2016/8/1

Y1 - 2016/8/1

N2 - Objective: Burst-suppression is an electroencephalographic pattern observed during coma. In individuals without known brain pathologies undergoing deep general anesthesia, somatosensory stimulation transiently increases the occurrence of bursts. We investigated the reactivity of burst-suppression in children with acquired brain injury.Methods: Intensive care unit electroencephalographic monitoring recordings containing burst-suppression were obtained from 5 comatose children with acquired brain injury of various etiologies. Intermittent photic stimulation was performed at 1 Hz for 1 min to assess reactivity. We quantified reactivity by measuring the change in the burst ratio (fraction of time in burst) following photic stimulation.Results: Photic stimulation evoked bursts in all patients, resulting in a transient increase in the burst ratio, while the mean heart rate remained unchanged. The regression slope of the change in burst ratio, referred to as the standardized burst ratio reactivity, correlated with subjects' Glasgow Coma Scale scores.Conclusions: Reactivity of the burst-suppression pattern to photic stimulation occurs across diverse coma etiologies. Standardized burst ratio reactivity appears to reflect coma severity.

AB - Objective: Burst-suppression is an electroencephalographic pattern observed during coma. In individuals without known brain pathologies undergoing deep general anesthesia, somatosensory stimulation transiently increases the occurrence of bursts. We investigated the reactivity of burst-suppression in children with acquired brain injury.Methods: Intensive care unit electroencephalographic monitoring recordings containing burst-suppression were obtained from 5 comatose children with acquired brain injury of various etiologies. Intermittent photic stimulation was performed at 1 Hz for 1 min to assess reactivity. We quantified reactivity by measuring the change in the burst ratio (fraction of time in burst) following photic stimulation.Results: Photic stimulation evoked bursts in all patients, resulting in a transient increase in the burst ratio, while the mean heart rate remained unchanged. The regression slope of the change in burst ratio, referred to as the standardized burst ratio reactivity, correlated with subjects' Glasgow Coma Scale scores.Conclusions: Reactivity of the burst-suppression pattern to photic stimulation occurs across diverse coma etiologies. Standardized burst ratio reactivity appears to reflect coma severity.

KW - Coma

KW - EEG

KW - Children

KW - Burst-suppression

KW - Reactivity

U2 - 10.1016/j.clinph.2016.03.029

DO - 10.1016/j.clinph.2016.03.029

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27266662

SN - 1388-2457

VL - 127

SP - 2921

EP - 2930

JO - Clinical Neurophysiology

JF - Clinical Neurophysiology

IS - 8

ER -