Teratogenic effects of antiepileptic drugs

Many antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have therapeutic applications that extend beyond epilepsy to include neuropathic pain, migraine headaches and psychiatric disorders. The risk of some AEDs has been clearly established, but for newer drugs, small sample sizes and polytherapy exposures preclude a conclu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inExpert review of neurotherapeutics Vol. 10; no. 6; pp. 943 - 959
Main Authors Hill, Denise S, Wlodarczyk, Bogdan J, Palacios, Ana M, Finnell, Richard H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Informa Healthcare 01.06.2010
Taylor & Francis
Expert Reviews Ltd
Subjects
Abnormalities, Drug-Induced
AED
Analysis
Anticonvulsants
Anticonvulsants - adverse effects
Antiepileptic agents
Birth defects
carbamazepine
Cognitive ability
Congenital defects
Drug therapy
Drugs
Epilepsy
Epilepsy - drug therapy
Female
Folic acid
Headache
Health aspects
Humans
Hypospadias - chemically induced
Intrauterine exposure
Kidney - abnormalities
lamotrigine
levetiracetam
Male
Mental disorders
Migraine
Mouth Abnormalities - chemically induced
Neuropathy
phenobarbital
phenytoin
Pregnancy
Reviews
Risk factors
Seizures
Seizures (Medicine)
Supplementation
teratogen
Teratogenicity
Therapeutic applications
topiramate
valproate
United States
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Many antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have therapeutic applications that extend beyond epilepsy to include neuropathic pain, migraine headaches and psychiatric disorders. The risk of some AEDs has been clearly established, but for newer drugs, small sample sizes and polytherapy exposures preclude a conclusive determination of their teratogenic potential. Most women with epilepsy will require AED therapy throughout their entire pregnancy to control seizures; the vast majority of pregnancies in women with epilepsy have positive outcomes. A conservative estimate suggests that AED monotherapy doubles, and polytherapy triples, the risk for major congenital malformations. Furthermore, while evidence is still accruing, recent investigations suggest that exposure to select AEDs results in altered cognitive function later in development. There is no evidence to suggest that additional folic acid supplementation ameliorates the increased risk of congenital malformations conferred by in utero AED exposure.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1473-7175
1744-8360
DOI:10.1586/ern.10.57