Methods
In this retrospective study we enrolled 292 of 2843 children who were admitted to PICUwith neurologic disorder. Demographics, neurologic disorder variety, neuroradiologic results, EEG findings, externation status and causes of mortality – if exists – of all patients were documented.
Results
The study period was 3 years. 37.3% (n=109) of the patients were under 1 year old, 58% (n=170) were male. The most common neurologic disorder was convulsion (n=111), 75 of them were status epilepticus. Most common seizure type was generalized tonic clonic. 40.1% (n=117) of the patients were hospitalized more than 48 hours in PICU and 11.3% (n=33) patients were hospitalized more than 4 weeks. 276 patients had at least 1 neurodiagnostic assesment like cranial USG, cranial CT, cranial MRI. Major neurodiagnostic finding was cerebral atrophy with the persantage of 16.1 (n=47). 131 (44.9%) patients have sequelle formation after externation. 28 (9.6%) children with neurological disorders died in PICU.
Conclusion
Neurological disorders represent a large part of the activity in our PICU. Patients with congenital neurologic disorders and patients under age of three have higher risk of mortality in PICU. There is a huge necessity to improve the pediatric neurointensive care units in tertiary health centers. Pediatric neurointensive care is thus an emerging subspecialty that optimally functions by applying a broad collaborative effort among colleagues across multiple medical specialties. Innovations in clinical services, educational pathways, and research agendas need to be developed for neurologically handicapped children.