Biological research in pregnancy and perinatology
-
Over the last 12 years several studies have found that the frequency of certain anomalies in children born to mothers treated with antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy has almost doubled. In 1968 Meadow reported certain malformations that suggest a congenital syndrome involving craniofacial abnormalities and that add to the high level of suspicion pointing to phenytoin. Moreover, multi-drug antiepileptics including phenytoin have been reported to induce carcinogenic damage and coagulation defects. ⋯ Two main aspects must be considered: the disease and its severity which determines the necessity of high dosages of antiepileptic drugs. The administration of phenytoin to pregnant epileptic patients is clearly questionable. Thus the aim of this paper is to evaluate the risks of this drug and compare them with its expected therapeutic benefits.