Pre-Emptive Pharmacogenetic Testing in the Acute Hospital Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Pharmacogenetic guided prescribing can be used to improve the safety and effectiveness of medicines. There are several approaches by which this intervention might be implemented in clinical practice, which will vary depending on the health system and clinical context.

Aim: To understand the clinical utility of panel-based pharmacogenetic testing in patients admitted acutely to hospital and to establish variables which predict if an individual might benefit from the intervention.

The use of parent-completed questionnaires to investigate developmental outcomes in large populations of children exposed to antiseizure medications in pregnancy.

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the utility of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3rd Edition (ASQ-3) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-2nd Edition (VABS-II) as neurodevelopmental screening tools for infants exposed to antiseizure medications in utero, and to examine their suitability for use in large-population signal generation initiatives.

Methods: Participants were women with epilepsy who were recruited from 21 hospitals in England and Northern Ireland during pregnancy between 2014 and 2016. Offspring were assessed at 24 months old using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-3rd Edition (BSID-III), the VABS-II, and the ASQ-3 (n = 223).

Neurodevelopment of babies born to mothers with epilepsy: A prospective observational cohort study.

Objective: Despite widespread monotherapy use of lamotrigine or levetiracetam during pregnancy, prospectively collected, blinded child development data are still limited. The NaME (Neurodevelopment of Babies Born to Mothers With Epilepsy) Study prospectively recruited a new cohort of women with epilepsy and their offspring for longitudinal follow-up.

Methods: Pregnant women of <21 weeks gestation (n = 401) were recruited from 21 hospitals in the UK.