Children born to mothers who take antiseizure medications to manage seizures and psychiatric conditions during pregnancy may face increased risks of neurodevelopmental conditions, according to new data from researchers at Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health. The current work -- using data from more than three million children from the United Kingdom and Sweden, including 17,495 who were exposed to antiseizure medications during pregnancy -- found that children exposed to the antiseizure drug lamotrigine in utero were at no additional risk for autism or intellectual disability compared with those exposed to other antiseizure medications. However, children exposed to valproate, topiramate, and carbamazepine were linked to specific neurodevelopmental issues.
The findings were published this month in the journal Nature Communications . However, the absolute risk of neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring is low, the researchers caution, regardless of antiseizure drug regimen. Compared to children unexposed to antiseizure medications, those exposed to the drug topiramate during pregnancy were 2.
5 times more likely to be diagnosed with intellectual disability, which raises their risk to 2.1% by age 12. In comparison with other drugs available, the authors found very little data suggesting that the drug lamotrigine in pregnancy increases the risk of neurodevelopmental issues in offspring.
Our findings suggest that while certain medications may pose some risk, lamotrigine may .