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Article: Greater risk of birth defects with valproic acid: defect rate is 2-3.5 times higher with valproic acid than with newer AEDs.(News)
- Article from:
- OB GYN News
- Article date:
- October 15, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Physicians seeing young girls and women with epilepsy now have strong reason to ensure the prescription of newer anti-epileptic drugs whenever possible.
New data suggest that older anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) particularly valproic acid, when taken during pregnancy, are associated with a high risk of birth defects, said Dr. Diego Wyszynski, who presented his findings at the meeting of the European Federation of Neurological Societies.
"This is the first time that we have data from large pregnancy registries on old anti-epileptic drugs as well as some of the new drugs. So this is a new message alerting clinicians to think, even when they see a young ...