Journal article
Antiepileptic drug combinations not involving valproate and the risk of fetal malformations
FJE Vajda, TJ O'Brien, CM Lander, J Graham, MJ Eadie
Epilepsia | WILEY-BLACKWELL | Published : 2016
DOI: 10.1111/epi.13415
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the relationship between antiepileptic drug (AED) polytherapy in pregnant women and the risk of fetal malformations as prescribing practice changed, with valproate being used less often and at lower doses. Specifically, the risks associated with two of the most common AEDs included in polytherapy over recent years, levetiracetam and topiramate, were examined. Methods: An observational cohort study in which malformation rates were analyzed in 1,461 pregnancies exposed to AED monotherapy, and in 484 exposed to antiepileptic drug combinations, from the Australian Register of Antiepileptic Drugs in Pregnancy over a 15-year period (1999–2014). Results: Fetal malformation..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the help provided by professional and lay colleagues who referred patients to the Australian Pregnancy Register, and wish to thank the Scientific Advisory Board and the Ethical Research Committees of St. Vincent's Hospital, Monash Medical Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and other institutions for their continuing ethics oversight of the Register. The Register is grateful for support from the Epilepsy Society of Australia, The Royal Melbourne Hospital Neuroscience Foundation, Epilepsy Action, and financial assistance from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the pharmaceutical companies Sanofi-Aventis, Genzyme, UCB Pharma, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Sci-Gen, and Eisai.