BMJ  2006;333:615-616 (23 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.38961.437639.BE

Editorial

Teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs

Women should consider stopping, minimising, or switching drugs before pregnancy

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Prescribing for women with epilepsy is complicated by the potential teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs. Current guidelines recommend that the most effective drug should be chosen before conception and prescribed at its lowest effective dose, ideally as monotherapy.^{1 2} But which antiepileptic drug is safest in pregnancy?

Early research on the safety of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy was unreliable. Several countries set up pregnancy registries in the late 1990s, and data from these registries are now appearing.

To date the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Registry has recruited more than 3500 women, of whom 72% were given antiepileptic monotherapy. The overall rate of major congenital malformation in women given antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy was 4.2%, compared with 3.5% in women with epilepsy who were not given such drugs.³ By three months of age, infants exposed to sodium valproate monotherapy during gestation had the highest frequency of major congenital malformation (6.2%), confirming similar . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of Colorectal Surgery, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
(davebreen@lycos.com)

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Montouris, G. (2007). Importance of monotherapy in women across the reproductive cycle. Neurology 69: S10-S16 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Tomson, T., Hiilesmaa, V. (2007). Epilepsy in pregnancy. BMJ 335: 769-773 [Full text]  

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