Trial reportBehavioural neurology2019
Short-Term Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Term Neonates Treated with Phenobarbital versus Levetiracetam: A Single-Center Experience.
Trial report in Behavioural neurology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of phenobarbitone on neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Levetiracetam versus Phenobarbitone for Management of Neonatal Seizures: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Anti-seizure medications for neonates with seizures.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of the anti-seizure medications in acute symptomatic neonatal seizures caused by stroke. A systematic review.Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis · 2022Pooled it
- Treating the symptom or treating the disease in neonatal seizures: a systematic review of the literature.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Levetiracetam vs. Phenobarbital for Neonatal Seizures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Review
- Efficacy and safety of intravenous Levetiracetam as first-line treatment for neonatal clinical seizures: A single-center study (2021-2023).eNeurologicalSci · 2025Article
- The Current and Potential Role of Pediatric Clinical Pharmacologists in Italy: A Review with Evidence Synthesis and Literature Analysis.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Efficacy of Levetiracetam as Add-On Therapy in the Treatment of Seizures in Neonates.Neonatology · 2024Article
- Neonatal seizures: stepping outside the comfort zone.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2022Article
- Levetiracetam Mechanisms of Action: From Molecules to Systems.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A Comparative Study of Levetiracetam and Phenobarbital for Neonatal Seizures as a First Line Treatment.Global pediatric health · 2022Article
- Novel Therapeutics for Neonatal Seizures.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2021Review
- Treating Seizures after Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy-Current Controversies and Future Directions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- What is the Best Predictor of Phenobarbital Pharmacokinetics to Use for Initial Dosing in Neonates?Pharmaceutics · 2021Review
- Effectiveness and adverse drug reactions of levetiracetam and midazolam in refractory neonatal seizure: A cross-sectional comparative study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhenobarbital (PB) has been traditionally used as the first-line treatment for neonatal seizures. More recently, levetiracetam (LEV) has been increasingly used as a promising newer antiepileptic medication for treatment of seizures in neonates.
objectivesThe aim of our study was to compare the effect of PB vs. LEV on short-term neurodevelopmental outcome in infants treated for neonatal seizures.
methodThis randomized, one-blind prospective study was conducted on term neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of S. Bambino Hospital, University Hospital "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele," Catania, Italy, from February 2016 to February 2018. Thirty term neonates with seizures were randomized to receive PB or LEV; the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination (HNNE) was used at baseline (T0) and again one month after the initial treatment (T1).
resultsWe found a significantly positive HNNE score for the developmental outcomes, specifically tone and posture, in neonates treated with LEV. There was no significant improvement in the HNNE score at T1 in the neonates treated with PB.
conclusionThis study suggests a positive effect of levetiracetam on tone and posture in term newborns treated for neonatal seizures. If future randomized-controlled studies also show better efficacy of LEV in the treatment of neonatal seizures, LEV might potentially be considered as the first-line anticonvulsant in this age group.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.