Would-be dads taking drugs to stop their epilepsy seizures—and valproate in particular—should be largely reassured that the available evidence on the developmental risks to their offspring doesn't justify any major concerns, concludes a systematic review of relevant studies published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry . The available evidence is scarce and inconsistent, but most studies indicate no heightened risk, the findings show, casting doubt on the stance taken by the UK drugs regulator, the MHRA, in particular, say the authors. The use of valproate during pregnancy is already restricted because of strong evidence showing that it's harmful to the developing fetus.
And experimental animal studies have linked antiseizure drugs to male infertility and congenital and behavioral abnormalities in their offspring, sparking concerns that these findings might also apply to men. To explore this further, the authors trawled research databases for studies published in English that reported on neurodevelopmental disorders , major congenital abnormalities, low birthweight or smaller than expected size at birth, among the babies of fathers taking antiseizure drugs when the child was conceived. Out of an initial haul of 923 articles, 26 underwent full-text review for eligibility, yielding 10 for inclusion in the final review.
This showed that although the data were limited, there was no clear evidence of a detrimental impact of these drugs on the studied o.