Irish academic to lead study into seizures in newborns

AN Irish academic who was instrumental in developing methods for more accurate detection of seizures in newborns is to co-lead a major international project to develop new drug treatments for these babies.

Dr Geraldine Boylan, a senior academic at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in University College Cork, will jointly lead the €7.5 million project which will involve a European-wide multi-centre clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of bumetanide in the treatment of seizures in newborns.

Bumetanide has been widely used for decades as a diuretic (to promote the formation of urine by the kidney) in adults and children. Recent research suggests that it may also be effective in the treatment of seizures in the newborn.