EEG changes during recovery from acute severe neonatal citrullinemia.

We report our observations of serial clinical and EEG examinations in 3 neonates during recovery from acute severe encephalopathy due to citrullinemia. Their electroclinical picture closely resembles the clinical stages of experimental models of hyperammonemia in monkeys. The length of the EEG interburst interval, a quantitative measure of EEG background abnormality, correlated with elevated serum levels of ammonia and suggests that hyperammonemia itself is a key figure in the genesis of encephalopathy in this condition. Finally, the manner in which the EEG normalizes during recovery from hyperammonemia in this setting suggests that burst-suppression resembles an exaggerated regression to the discontinuity of the very premature infant.