Phenobarbital in Neonatal Seizures

Efficacy of phenobarbital in neonatal seizures.

A retrospective study of neonatal seizures in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit determined a 3.2% incidence, and confirmed the relatively poor efficacy of the traditional anticonvulsants phenobarbital and phenytoin. Only 33% responded to an initial adequate loading dose of phenobarbital, while 56% responded to either or both anticonvulsants. Although multifocal clonic seizures were m...

Phenobarbital for Neonatal Seizures: A Time for Perusal.

Phenobarbital therapy in neonatal seizures and the prognostic value of the EEG.

High plasma levels of phenobarbital are known to produce profound effects on the EEG background activity. Phenobarbital therapy frequently is administered to the neonate with seizures prior to the first EEG recording. Therefore, it is questionable whether in these neonates alterations of the EEG background activity are related to anticonvulsive therapy. A total of 26 neonates with seizures had ...

Age- and sex-dependent susceptibility to phenobarbital-resistant neonatal seizures: role of chloride co-transporters

Ischemia in the immature brain is an important cause of neonatal seizures. Temporal evolution of acquired neonatal seizures and their response to anticonvulsants are of great interest, given the unreliability of the clinical correlates and poor efficacy of first-line anti-seizure drugs. The expression and function of the electroneutral chloride co-transporters KCC2 and NKCC1 influence the anti-...

Neonatal seizures

The incidence of seizures in infants born at term is 0.53 per 1000 live births; the incidence is even higher in preterm infants, ranging from 113% of very low birthweight infants3. Variations of described numbers of incidence can be explained by different diagnostic definitions and methods used. Most of these epidemiological studies include only clinical seizures. The exact incidence of elect...