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Abstract Background Assessments of cortical development and identifying factors that may result in a poor prognosis for fetuses with isolated mild ventriculomegaly (IMVM) is a hot research topic. We aimed to perform a constant, detailed assessment of cortical development in IMVM fetuses using ultrasound and determine whether asymmetric cortical development occurred. Moreover, we aimed to estimate the prognosis of IMVM fetuses and compare the difference in the prognosis of IMVM fetuses presenting symmetric and asymmetric cortical maturation. Methods IMVM was diagnosed by regular ultrasound, neurosonography and fetal MRI. Genetic and TORCH examinations were conducted to exclude common genetic abnormalities and TORCH infection of fetuses. Ultrasound examinations were conducted at an interval of 2–3 weeks to record sulcus development in IMVM fetuses using a scoring system. The neonatal behavioral neurological assessment (NBNA), the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3) and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, First Edition (BSID-I) were performed after birth. Results Forty fetuses with IMVM were included: twenty showed asymmetric cortical maturation and twenty showed symmetric cortical maturation. For IMVM fetuses presenting asymmetric cortical maturation, the mean gestational age (GA) at the first diagnosis of relatively delayed development was 24.23 weeks for the parieto-occipital sulcus, 24.71 weeks for the calcarine sulcus, and 26.43 weeks for the cingulate sulcus. All the sulci with delayed development underwent ‘catch-up growth’ and developed to the same grade as the sulci of the other hemisphere. The mean GA at which the two sides developed to the same grade was 29.40 weeks for the parieto-occipital sulcus, 29.30 weeks for the calcarine sulcus and 31.27 weeks for the cingulate sulcus. The NBNA, ASQ-3 and BSID-I scores of all patients were in the normal range. Conclusions IMVM fetuses may show mild asymmetric cortical maturation in the second trimester, but the relatively delayed sulci undergo ‘catch-up growth’. The neurodevelopment of IMVM fetuses presenting asymmetric cortical maturation and ‘catch-up growth’ is not statistically significantly different from IMVM fetuses presenting symmetric cortical maturation.

Background: The patients with early-onset epileptic encephalopathy (EOEE) suffer from neurodevelopmental delay. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical manifestations and amplitude-integrated encephalogram (aEEG) characteristics of infants with EOEE with onset within the neonatal period, to make early diagnosis to improve the prognosis. Methods: One-hundred and twenty-eight patients with neonatal seizure were enrolled and followed up till 1 year old. Sixty-six neonates evolved into EOEE were as the EOEE group, the other 62 were as the non-EOEE (nEOEE) group. Then we compared the clinical and aEEG characteristics between the two groups to analyze the manifestations in neonates with EOEE. Results: Compared to the nEOEE group, the incidence of daily seizure attacks, more than two types of convulsions, more than two antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) application, severely abnormal aEEG background, absence of cyclicity, and more than two seizures detection were significantly higher in the EOEE group (P < 0.05) (97% vs. 54.8%; 30.3% vs. 14.5%; 97.0% vs. 25.4%; 39.4% vs. 3.2%; 57.6% vs. 9.7%; and 56% vs. 3.2%, respectively). Severely abnormal background pattern (odds ratio [OR] = 0.081, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.009–0.729, P = 0.025) and more than two seizures detection by aEEG (OR = 0.158, 95% CI: 0.043–0.576, P = 0.005) were the independent risk factors for the evolvement into EOEE. The upper and lower margins of active sleep (AS) and quiet sleep (QS) were significantly higher in EOEE group than those of the control group (P < 0.05) (34.3 ± 13.6 vs. 21.3 ± 6.4; 9.9 ± 3.7 vs. 6.7 ± 2.2; 41.2 ± 15.1 vs. 30.4 ± 11.4; and 11.9 ± 4.4 vs. 9.4 ± 4.0; unit: μV, respectively). AS upper margin was demonstrated a higher diagnostic specificity and sensitivity for EOEE than another three parameters according to the receiver operating characteristic curves; the area under the curve was 0.827. Conclusions: The clinical characteristics of the neonatal seizure which will evolve into EOEE were more than two AEDs application, high seizure frequency (daily attack), and more than two types of the seizure. Significant high voltage, severely abnormal background, absence of cyclicity, and more than two seizures detected on aEEG were the meaningful indicators to the prediction of EOEE.