Association between topiramate and zonisamide use during pregnancy and low birth weight.

Objective: To assess the possible effects of topiramate and zonisamide use during pregnancy on fetal growth.

Methods: The study population was the singleton liveborns born to women who enrolled in the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry between 1997 and 2012. Data were collected through telephone interviews at enrollment, 7 months of gestation, and postpartum.

Comparative safety of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy.

Objective: To assess the safety of the newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy.

Methods: The study population was pregnant women who enrolled in the North American AED Pregnancy Registry between 1997 and 2011. Data on AED use and maternal characteristics were collected through phone interviews at enrollment, at 7 months' gestation, and postpartum.

Fetal effects of anticonvulsant polytherapies: different risks from different drug combinations.

Objective: To determine the frequency of malformations among infants born to women who had taken lamotrigine or carbamazepine as part of polytherapy during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Design: A cohort of women enrolled during pregnancy in the North American AED (Antiepileptic Drug) Pregnancy Registry between February 1, 1997, and June 1, 2010. Information on AED use and demographic characteristics was collected in 3 telephone interviews.

Using prophylactic, but not tocolytic, magnesium sulfate to reduce cerebral palsy related to prematurity: what dose, and what about infant mortality?

Strategies for the prevention of cerebral palsy (CP) remain incompletely characterized. Recognizing that half of all cases are associated with preterm delivery (Australian CP Register Report, 2009), research protocols aimed at reducing its prevalence have focused on interventions in pregnancies at risk for preterm birth. Compelling data from recent clinical trials have led to an emerging consensus favoring the use of antenatal magnesium sulfate for preterm neuroprophylaxis.

Contemporary usage of obstetric magnesium sulfate: indication, contraindication, and relevance of dose.

Magnesium sulfate, a biologically potent compound, given sometimes in extraordinarily high doses, is among the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in American obstetric practice. Although most clinicians are in accord regarding its value for seizure prophylaxis in the setting of preeclampsia, such unanimity is not the case regarding its role in preterm labor. Credible scientific data indicate not only a lack of efficacy, but also toxicity to susceptible fetuses when magnesium sulfate is used in the high dosages found in tocolysis.