“New Study Reveals Effectiveness of Antiseizure Medications for Newborns with Stroke-Related Seizures”
A recent study has shed light on how effective antiseizure medications (ASMs) are for treating neonates who experience seizures caused by acute arterial ischemic stroke (AIS). This research is important because it focuses on a specific group of infants—those born at or near term—who have unique medical needs. The study examined 88 neonates from 15 advanced neonatal intensive care units across Europe, allowing researchers to gather valuable data on how these infants responded to different medications.
The researchers found that the most commonly used first-line medication was phenobarbital (PB), administered to about 84% of the infants. However, the results showed that only 22% of those treated with PB saw effective seizure control. In contrast, phenytoin (PHT), another ASMs that was also tested, proved to be far more effective, successfully controlling seizures in nearly all cases where it was used. Specifically, 100% of the infants treated with PHT responded positively, highlighting a significant difference in effectiveness between these two medications.
Monitoring the babies during treatment was also a key part of the study. The researchers used continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) or amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) to observe the infants’ brain activity, confirming that the clinical diagnosis of seizure types matched what was seen during monitoring. Notably, many of the infants exhibited unilateral focal clonic seizures, a specific type of seizure that was prevalent in this group.
In summary, this study’s findings suggest that when it comes to treating acute seizures in neonates suffering from AIS, phenytoin may be the superior choice over phenobarbital. These insights can help guide treatment decisions in neonatal intensive care settings, ultimately improving outcomes for these vulnerable infants.