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
. 2007 Jun;53(6):1007-9.

Teratogenicity of lamotrigine

Sarit Shor, Gideon Koren, Irena Nulman

Teratogenicity of lamotrigine

Sarit Shor et al. Can Fam Physician. 2007 Jun.

Abstract
in English, French

Question: One of my female patients has epilepsy and is currently receiving lamotrigine monotherapy. She has recently found that she is 6 weeks pregnant and is concerned about possible side effects of lamotrigine on her fetus. How should I advise her and should I switch to another antiepileptic drug?

Answer: Lamotrigine (LTG) has not been associated with an increased risk for major malformations in monotherapy in most available studies. Risk of major malformations has been suggested when LTG was taken in doses higher than 200 mg/d and when clefts not caused by any known syndrome have been associated with LTG treatment. Therefore, safety for the fetus cannot yet be proven or rejected, although the drug does not appear to be a major human teratogen.

QUESTION Une de mes patientes souffre d’épilepsie et suit actuellement une monothérapie à la lamotrigine. Elle vient d’apprendre qu’elle est enceinte de 6 semaines et s’inquiète des effets secondaires possibles de la lamotrigine sur le fœtus. Quels conseils devrais-je lui donner et est-ce que je devrais lui prescrire un autre médicament contre l’épilepsie?

RÉPONSE Selon la plupart des études publiées, la lamotrigine (LTG) en monothérapie n’a pas été associée à un risque accru de malformations majeures. On a laissé entendre la possibilité de risque de malformations importantes lorsque la LTG était prise à des doses de plus de 200 mg/j et lorsque des fissures non causées par des syndromes connus ont été associées à un traitement à la LTG. Par conséquent, il n’est pas possible encore de dire si la sécurité du fœtus est menacée ou non, quoique le médicament ne semble pas être un tératogène humain important.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Yerby MS. Pregnancy and epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1991;32(Suppl 6):S51–9. - PubMed
    1. Dansky LV, Andermann E, Andermann F. Marriage and fertility in epileptic patients. Epilepsia. 1980;21(3):261–71. - PubMed
    1. Morrow J, Russell A, Guthrie E, Parsons L, Robertson I, Waddell R, et al. Malformation risks of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy: a prospective study from the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006;77(2):193–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vajda FJ, Hitchcock A, Graham J, Solinas C, O’Brien TJ, Lander CM, et al. Foetal malformations and seizure control: 52 months data of the Australian Pregnancy Registry. Eur J of Neurol. 2006;13(6):645–54. - PubMed
    1. GlaxoSmithKline. The lamotrigine pregnancy registry [Interim Report] Wilmington, NC: Kendle International Inc; 2007.