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In utero exposure to certain antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can cause cognitive deficits in animals. Whether similar cognitive effects occur in humans is unknown. The Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs (NEAD) study is a prospective, observational, cohort study of neurodevelopmental outcomes in 309 offspring of women with epilepsy in the U.S. or U.K. who were taking monotherapy carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin, or valproate during pregnancy and were enrolled from October 1999 through February 2004. This report is a planned interim analysis of cognitive function of 258 of the children at age 3 years.
The valproate group differed significantly from the other groups in maternal age, breast-feeding status, and type of epilepsy. Th…