Epilepsy Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Purpose: to assess the evolution of epileptic seizures during pregnancy and the occurrence of malformations in neonates born to epileptic mothers who used anticonvulsant drugs during pregnancy, as well as the perinatal characteristics of the newborns. Methods: a total of 126 medical records of epileptic patients seen at the high-risk pregnancy outpatient clinic were analyzed retrospectively in terms of the following variables: age, parity, diagnosis of the type of epileptic seizure, anticonvulsant drug used during the prenatal period, evolution of epileptic seizures during the prenatal period, type of delivery, gestational age at resolution, and perinatal characteristics of the newborns. Results: the incidence of pregnant women with epilepsy was 0.2% in relation to prenatal patients, with simple partial epilepsy being the most frequent type (40% of cases). Monotherapy was applied to 75% of the patients and carbamazepine was the most frequently used drug. Among the 111 patients evaluated in terms of course of the disease during pregnancy, 53% showed no change, 31% became worse and 16% improved. Normal delivery was performed in 62.5% of cases, with a satisfactory perinatal result in terms of Apgar score, and with a rate of low birth weight neonates above the values for low-risk populations. No fetal malformations were observed. Conclusion: epilepsy showed a favorable course during pregnancy and was not aggravated by the latter, with cases of worsening of signs and symptoms being associated with epilepsy of difficult control before pregnancy. Evaluation of the perinatal characteristics of the neonates showed satisfactory Apgar scores and evolution, indicating that epilepsy and anticonvulsant drugs do not cause severe impairment of intrapartum vitality. No cases of malformations or hemorrhagic complications were detected in the present study.