Pregnant women with untreated epilepsy are not at an increased risk of delivering infant with birth defect.(Brief Article)

2002 JUN 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) have concluded that there is no evidence of an increased chance of major birth defects occurring in the offspring of women with epilepsy who do not take antiepileptic medications during pregnancy.

The Motherisk study, presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, conducted a meta-analysis of published studies reporting pregnancy outcome among women of untreated epilepsy compared with healthy controls. It is widely believed that women with epilepsy have higher than standard risk for giving birth to a child with malformations, independent of the effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). This research sought to determine through a systematic review of studies on the subject the reality behind this perception.

Ten papers, six cohort studies and four case-controlled studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The risk for congenital malformations in offspring of women with untreated epilepsy was not found to be significantly higher than in healthy controls. In contrast, the offspring of women treated with antiepileptic drugs had higher incidence of major malformations than healthy controls.

"The association of fetal ...