Original article Phenytoin administration in the newborn and infant

To evaluate the ef®cacy and safety of phenytoin (PHT) in the treatment of situation-related seizures and epilepsies in the newborn and infant; the clinical histories of 82 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Sixty patients received for status epilepticus (SE), intravenous PHT followed by long-term oral administration for 27 of them. The other 22 patients had oral treatment only. Intravenous administration made 55 % of these patients seizure-free, whereas oral administration produced lasting seizure control in only 9.1%. During chronic oral treatment, it was most dif®cult to obtain adequate plasma concentrations in 69.1 % of the patients, and 43.6 % had side effects, most of which were related to very high plasma concentrations. In conclusion, in the ®rst 2 years of life, intravenous administration of PHT is useful for SE, but oral treatment is poorly effective with dif®culty to achieve appropriate and stable therapeutic plasma concentrations, and with frequent sid