Every year, about 16,000 newborns in the United States have seizures. Medications can treat seizures but can also have serious side effects and may harm children’s brain development. Researchers at University of Michigan, through their PCORI-funded study, compared functional development outcomes of 270 newborns who developed seizures due to acute brain injury in the first days to weeks after birth and were treated with antiseizure medication (ASM) prior to hospital discharge and those who continued ASM after hospital discharge. Reporting in JAMA Neurology, the study found that after two years, children in both groups did not differ significantly in their functional development and risk of epilepsy. These results support discontinuation of ASM prior to hospital discharge for most newborns with acute symptomatic neonatal seizures.

People with cardiovascular disease who took aspirin to lower their chances of having a heart attack or stroke experienced similar health benefits, including reduced death and hospitalization, whether they took a high or low dose of the medication, according to findings from the PCORI-funded ADAPTABLE Study, the largest aspirin dosing trial conducted in routine care and clinical settings. The results were presented at ACC.21 – the American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session – and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2021. The study is also the first randomized controlled trial conducted using PCORnet^®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. Learn more about the findings here or at TheAspirinStudy,org.