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Background. Phenobarbital (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. Objectives. The aim of our study was to compare the effect of PB vs. LEV on short-term neurodevelopmental outcome in infants treated for neonatal seizures. Method. This 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). Results. We 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. Conclusion. This 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim of the Study: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of levetiracetam (LEV) as first‑line treatment of neonatal seizures. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in patients of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Santo Bambino Hospital, University of Catania, Italy, from January to August 2016. A total of 16 neonates with convulsions not associated with major syndromes, which required anticonvulsant therapy, were included and underwent IV LEV at standard doses. Results: All patients responded to treatment, with a variety range of seizure resolution period (from 24 h to 15 days; mean hours: 96 ± 110.95). No patient required a second anticonvulsant therapy. Regarding safety of LEV, no major side‑effects were observed. Conclusions: To our knowledge, it is one of the few studies confirming the efficiency of LEV as first‑line treatment in seizures of this age group. LEV was effective in resolving seizures and was safely administered in the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sotos syndrome (SS) is an overgrowth syndrome characterized by typical facial appearance, learning disability, and macrocephaly as cardinal diagnostic features. Febrile (FS) and afebrile seizures are reported in 9-50% of cases. There is no evidence that patients with SS and FS later develop epilepsy, and no studies have investigated the electroclinical features and the long-term outcome in epileptic SS patients. The authors report a series of 19 SS patients with FS and/or epilepsy during childhood and a long-term follow-up. More than half of FS evolved to epilepsy. Temporal lobe seizures were recorded in 40% of patients with SS. Seizures were easy to control with common antiepileptic drugs in almost all patients. A careful neurologic evaluation is useful for SS patients, since seizures are an important finding among people with this overgrowth syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]