Improving Treatments For Newborn Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury And Seizures

Of the 300,000 babies born in Australia each year most experience a happy and healthy entry to the world. However for a small few complications can arise during birth, often with very little warning and with devastating consequences. Perinatal asphyxia – when the brain is starved of oxygen and blood around the time of birth – is the third leading cause of infant death in Australia and the leading cause of neonatal seizures in newborn babies around the world.

Neonatal seizures are among the most prominent and distinctive signs of serious neurological illness. Of the babies who survive, many will face life-long challenges of physical and mental disability including epilepsy and cerebral palsy. The current antiepileptic drugs used to treat neonatal seizures, most notably phenobarbitone, are relatively ineffective and may cause serious side effects. Despite this, existing treatments for neonatal seizures have changed little over the last 50 years.