Exposure to antidepressant associated with a high rate of neonatal complications.(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) have concluded that exposure during pregnancy to paroxetine (Paxil), a drug commonly used to treat depression, panic, and obsessive-compulsive disorders, is associated with a high rate of neonatal complications when used near term.

The Motherisk study, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, compares the perinatal outcome of infants exposed to paroxetine in utero during the third trimester of pregnancy to infants exposed to the drug only during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, and also to infants with no exposure to the drug. While paroxetine does not increase teratogenic (relating to or causing developmental malformations) risk, case reports of neonatal withdrawal symptoms prompted researchers to investigate whether, similar to adults, discontinuation syndrome can occur.

The study ascertained that among the 55 pregnant women exposed to paroxetine during the third trimester, 12 infants had neonatal complications that necessitated prolonged hospitalizations. The prevalent clinical picture was respiratory distress (experienced by nine infants), hypoglycemia (experienced by two infants), and one infant with jaundice.

In contrast, of the comparison group of 27 women using paroxetine during the first or second trimester, and 27 women using nonteratogenic drugs, only three babies had neonatal complications. Two of the infants were exposed to paroxetine in trimesters one and two and had respiratory distress and meconium aspiration. The third infant had jaundice and was not exposed ...