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Management Of Anti-Seizure Medications During Pregnancy: Advancements In The Past Decade, Charul Avachat, Jessica M. Barry, Xintian Lyu, Catherine M.T. Sherwin, Angela K. Birnbaum

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Management of seizures often involves continuous medication use throughout a patient’s life, including when a patient is pregnant. The physiological changes during pregnancy can lead to altered drug exposure to anti-seizure medications, increasing patient response variability. In addition, subtherapeutic anti-seizure medication concentrations in the mother may increase seizure frequency, raising the risk of miscarriage and preterm labor. On the other hand, drug exposure increases can lead to differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes in the developing fetus. Established pregnancy registries provide insight into the teratogenicity potential of anti-seizure medication use. In addition, some anti-seizure medications are associated with an increased risk of …