Magnesium for neuroprotection.

Dear Sir,

The recent publication in the journal entitled “Magnesium for neuroprotection in birth asphyxia” was very interesting.[1] Gathwala et al. concluded that “Magnesium is well tolerated and does appear to have beneficial effects in babies with severe asphyxia”.[1] There are some simple questions on this work. The first question is whether the causes of asphyxia affect the outcome. This is an interesting point to be evaluated. Second, the safety of magnesium administration might need more information. As Gathwala et al. noted some N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist was not confirmed for safety. Although Gathwala et al. have reported on the safety in a previous similar publication in Indian J Pediatr, it is only a short-term observation.[2] Finally, since magnesium is a drug that is used for control of severe hypertensive disorder with convulsion in pregnancy, the effect of the drug on fetus and newborn might be expected. It might be wise to indirectly study the episode of neonatal asphyxia in the newborn in this scenario.