Loading...
Some older antiseizure medications (ASMs), including phenobarbital, valproate, and carbamazepine, increase the risk for major congenital malformations in infants exposed prenatally; the second-generation ASM topiramate increases cleft palate risk. However, we lack information on risks with exposure to newer second-generation ASMs. Using North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry data from 1997 through 2023, researchers have now compared outcomes of first-trimester exposure to various ASMs with exposure to the lower-risk ASM lamotrigine (primary reference), unexposed pregnancies (secondary reference), and an external reference of more than 200,000 pregnancies at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
The main findings:
Lamotrigine c…