Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Jan;70(1):15-21.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp.70.1.15.

Additional educational needs in children born to mothers with epilepsy

N Adab  1 , A Jacoby, D Smith, D Chadwick
Affiliations

Additional educational needs in children born to mothers with epilepsy

N Adab et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2001 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relative risks of additional educational needs (AENs) in children exposed to antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy and polytherapy regimes in utero.

Methods: A retrospective survey of women between the ages of 16 to 40 registered at the Mersey Regional Epilepsy Clinic, who received a postal questionnaire concerning their experience of pregnancy and the subsequent schooling of live-born children.

Results: 721 (57%) women of the 1267 approached returned an adequately completed questionnaire; 330 (46%) had given birth to at least one live-born child. Information was collected on 594 children, 400 of whom were of school age (4-18). 150 (37.5%) had been exposed to monotherapy in utero, 74 (18.5%) were exposed to polytherapy, and 176 were not exposed to any AEDs. The odds ratio of AENs for all children exposed to AEDs in utero compared with those unexposed was 1.49 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.83 -2.67). Odds ratios for AENs for each therapy subgroup compared with those unexposed were also calculated for all children. Those exposed to valproate monotherapy had an odds ratio of 3.4 (95% CI 1.63-7.10) by contrast with an odds ratio of 0.26 (95% CI 0.06- 1.15) for carbamazepine. Polytherapy including valproate had similarly high odds ratios for AENs compared with those unexposed of 2.51 ( 95% CI 1.04-6.07) versus the odds ratio of 1.51 ( 95% CI 0.56-4.07) for polytherapy excluding valproate.

Conclusions: Although the findings should be treated with caution, they suggest that monotherapy or polytherapy with valproate during pregnancy carries particular risks for the development of children exposed in utero.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Lancet. 1972 Oct 21;2(7782):839-43 - PubMed
    1. BMJ. 1999 May 8;318(7193):1289 - PubMed
    1. J Pediatr. 1976 Oct;89(4):662-8 - PubMed
    1. Epilepsia. 1980 Dec;21(6):663-80 - PubMed
    1. Int J Biol Res Pregnancy. 1981;2(1):37-45 - PubMed

Publication types

Substances