Does pregnancy per se make epilepsy worse?
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether being pregnant in its own right alters epileptic seizure control.


METHODS
Study of 148 pregnancies in women who took no antiepileptic drugs before pregnancy and in at least the earlier half of pregnancy, 69 taking none throughout pregnancy.


RESULTS
More women (P < 0.01) had seizures of any type during pregnancy (45.9%) than in the prepregnancy year (34.5%), and also convulsive seizures (30.4% vs 12.3%). After excluding potential confounding factors, viz. late prepregnancy drug withdrawal, treatment resumption in pregnancy possibly preventing seizure recurrence, the figures became seizures of any type 56.6% during and 35.5% before pregnancy and convulsive seizures 39.4% during and 18.2% before pregnancy (both P < 0.01). There was a non-statistically significant greater tendency for seizure control to be lost during pregnancy in genetic generalized than in focal epilepsies (54.2% vs 35.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
Irrespective of its effects on antiepileptic drug disposition, being pregnant per se seems to impair epileptic seizure control.
Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
F J E
FJ
Vajda
Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
T J
TJ
O'Brien
Department of Neurology, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
C M
CM
Lander
Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
J
J
Graham
Department of Neurology, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.|Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
M J
MJ
Eadie
D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000927:Anticonvulsants
antiepileptic drugs; epilepsy; pregnancy; seizure control