Table 3.

Randomized clinical studies investigating the neuroprotective effect of magnesium administered before delivery to women at risk for preterm birth (a) and administerd to children born at term after perinatal asphyxia (b)

Author	Study setup	Treatment arms and comedication	Individuals	Results
A
Schendel et al., 1996 [61]	Observational	Preterm administration for tocolysis. Dose variable, observational study	1097 births with very low birth-weight	Reduced risk for cerebral palsy and mental retardation
Crowther et al., 2003 [64]	Randomized	Preterm administration of 16 mmol MgSO4 followed by 4 mmol/h for 24 hours to mother vs. placebo	1062 women in gest. week 30 or less with birth planned within 24 hours	Lower rate of pediatric mortality and cerebral palsy in the treatment group
Marret et al., 2007 [63]	Randomized	Preterm administration of 16 mmol MgSO4 (4 g) single-dose over 30 minutes	573 women in gest. week 33 or less with birth planned within 24 hours	Non-significant reduction of infant mortality and white matter injury
Magpie Trial Follow-Up Collaborative Group, 2007 [66]	Randomized	Preterm administration of 16 mmol MgSO4 followed by 4 mmol/h for 24 hours to mother vs. placebo	3283 children born before gest. week 37	Non-significant reduction of disability after 18 months
Rouse et al., 2008 [65]	Randomized	Preterm administration of 24 mmol MgSO4, followed by 8 mmol/h	2241 women in gest. week 24 – 32 with birth anticipated within 24 hours	Significant reduction of cerebral palsy
B
Levene et al., 1995 [68]	open	MgSO4 400 mg/kg vs. 250 mg/kg	15 full-term neonates with asphyxia	400 mg/kg: Serum level 3,6 mmol/l, profound hypotension and respiratory depression
				250 mg/kg: Serum level 2.42 mmol/kg, no effect on herat rate, blood pressure and respiration
Groenendaal et al., 2002 [69]	Randomized	MgSO4 (250 mg/kg 30 min after birth and 125 mg/kg after 24 and 48 hours vs. placebo	22 full-term neonates with asphyxia	No effect on pathological EEG patterns
Ichiba et al., 2002 [70]	Randomized	MgSO4 (3 × 250 mg/kg in 24-hour intervals) vs. placebo	34 full-term neonates with asphyxia	Less pathological CT- and abnormal EEG-findings. Higher rate of oral feeding and good short-term outcome ( at 14 days of age) in magnesium-treated children
Gathwala et al., 2006 [71]	Randomized	MgSO4 (250 mg/kg 30 min after birth and 125 mg/kg after 24 and 48 hours vs. placebo	40 full-term neonates with asphyxia	Safe use of magnesium. No change in heart-rate, respiratory rate of blood pressure
Bhat et al., 2009 [72]	Randomized	MgSO4 (3 × 250 mg/kg in 24-hour intervals) vs. placebo	40 full-term neonates with asphyxia	Less neurological abnormalities and pathological CT findings
Gethwala et al., 2010 [73]	Randomized	MgSO4 (250 mg/kg 30 min after birth and 125 mg/kg after 24 and 48 hours vs. placebo	40 full-term neonates with asphyxia	Less EEG- and CT abnormalities and better short-term outcome in magnesium-treated children