Pregnant women taking medication for epilepsy are more likely to give birth to babies with congenital malformations

Category: Health

published by Shameen

Published on: June 16, 2019, 11:52 pm EST Update: June 16, 2019, 11:52 pm EST

Washington: According to a new study, medications prescribed to fight epilepsy in pregnant women suffering from migraine, pain and bipolar disorder are likely to give birth to babies with conbad malformations

The study focuses on drugs – valproic acid and topiramate. Conbad malformations include spina bifida and cleft lip.

For this study, researchers used data to identify pregnancies that resulted in live births between January 2011 and March 2015.

Of the 1,886,825 pregnancies reported in those years, the researchers searched for maternal use of 10 antiepileptic antiepileptic drugs before and after conception.

The researchers also searched for 23 conbad anomalies in children born to these women. The results indicated that 8,794 women were prescribed a single antiepileptic drug.

Women who had been prescribed valproic acid (10.4% of the group of pregnant women who received antiepileptic treatment) were 19 times more likely to have a baby with spina bifida than women who did not take medication for epilepsy.

Of the 913 women who were prescribed valproic acid, six babies (0.66 pc) had spina bifida compared to 616 babies (0.03 pc) born to women who did not take any anti-HIV drug. 39; epilepsy.
The drug also increased the risk of seven other conbad malformations, including a cleft palate and four types of heart defects.

In contrast, women under topiramate (5.9 pc) were seven times more likely to have a baby with a cleft lip (with or without cleft palate), said the study published in the journal Neurology. .

Of the 517 women who received topiramate, three babies (0.60 pc) had a cleft lip, compared to 1637 babies (0.09 pc) born to women not taking medication for epilepsy.

"The new study confirms other large-scale studies where similar results have been found. This reinforces the risks badociated with these two drugs, "said Dr. David Ficker, president elect of the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation, cited by CNN.

"I also know that some women with difficult-to-control epilepsy consider that valproic acid is perhaps the only effective drug. All of these drugs have different ways of working in the brain and are not necessarily totally interchangeable, "said Dr. David.

"Most notably, the use of valproic acid during pregnancy has been badociated with a higher risk of low IQ, autism and autism spectrum disorders, and the need for more sleep." special education for children exposed during pregnancy. Topiramate has also been badociated with an increased risk of low birth weight, "said Dr. Page Pennell, president of the American Epilepsy Society.

"A planned pregnancy allows the health care provider and the woman to decide the best plan for her individually … to reduce fetal risk while keeping her epileptic seizures under optimal control," concluded Dr. Pennell.

Source: ANI