title: Maternal pre-eclampsia is associated with childhood epilepsy in South Carolina children insured by Medicaid.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the association between maternal pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE) and childhood epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective cohort study using linked maternal-child billing data for Medicaid births in South Carolina from 1996 through 2002, with follow-up billing data for children through December 2008. Women with PE (exposed) and children with epilepsy (outcome) were identified using ICD-9 codes. Non-singleton births, children with documented conditions known to cause abnormal brain development, and children who neither remained in Medicaid until age 6 nor were diagnosed with epilepsy were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 95,450 mother-child pairs in the final cohort, 5460 mothers were diagnosed with PE (5.7%) and 1106 children had the outcome of epilepsy (1.2%). After controlling for potential confounders, PE was significantly associated with risk of epilepsy (OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.17-1.82). The increased risk of epilepsy was observed only among full-term infants, and for this subgroup, late PE (first diagnosed after 37 weeks of gestation) was significantly associated with epilepsy (OR=1.61, 95% CI=1.21-2.16). The association between PE and epilepsy was particularly strong for children with focal epilepsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-eclampsia is associated with childhood epilepsy. Additional research is needed to identify potential mechanisms for the association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 3209 Colonial Drive, Columbia, SC 29210, USA. Joshua.mann@sc.edu
authors.forename: Joshua R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McDermott
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D002658:Developmental Disabilities; D004461:Eclampsia; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology