US scientists find common antiseizure drugs safe for pregnancy

A team of US scientists has deemed two commonly used antiseizure medications -- lamotrigine and levetiracetam -- safe to use during pregnancy.

Epilepsy -- a chronic neurological condition -- is characterised by sudden numbness, body stiffness, shaking, fainting, speech difficulty, and involuntary urination. While medicines are known to help most women to lead normal lives, in some cases, they can cause harm to the foetus.

To understand, researchers from Stanford University evaluate the drugs’ long-term effects on children born to mothers who took one or both medications for epilepsy while pregnant. They documented outcomes at age 6 from 298 children of women with epilepsy and a comparison group of 89 children of healthy women.

The results, published in JAMA Neurology, confirm that lamotrigine and levetiracetam offer a safe alternative to older antiseizure medications such as valproate that are known to raise the risk of autism and lower IQ as well as impairment to other cognitive abilities in children.

The team found that verbal ability at age 6 was normal in children whose mothers had used one or both of the drugs during pregnancy.

They also found no statistically significant differences in a variety of other cognitive and psychosocial outcomes in 6-year-olds.

“For these newer drugs, lamotrigine, and levetiracetam, the outcomes look very good,” said lead author Kimford Meador, Professor of Neurology and neurological sciences.

“We didn’t see any difference in outcomes between the children of women with epilepsy who took the newer medications and the children of healthy women, which is very encouraging,” Meador said.

It is important to prevent as many seizures as possible during pregnancy, as seizures can harm both the mother and the foetus.

Thus women with epilepsy need care from neurologists and obstetricians who are skilled in managing the disease during pregnancy, Meador said, adding that with the right care, “Well over 90 per cent of women with epilepsy will have normal pregnancies and normal children.”

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