Prevalence of epilepsy in Saudi pregnant women and possible effects of anti-epileptic drugs on pregnancy outcomes

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of epileptic patients.

Variables	Monotherapy 39 (57.3)	Polytherapy 21 (30.9)	Without medication 8 (11.8)	P-value
Variables	n (%)			P-value
Average age ±SD (min-max)	28.79±5.8	31.2±6.3	23.6±2.1	0.12
Average age ±SD (min-max)	(17–32)	(18–35)	(21–26)
Age of seizure onset	17.8±9.1	15.7±6.1	14.1±8.1	0.6
Age of seizure onset	(1–35)	(3–32)	(2–29)
Disease duration (years)	12.6±8.9	7.3±5.6	9.2±9.1	0.7
Disease duration (years)	(1–35)	(3–32)	(2–29)
Duration of use of AED (years)	11.7±9.07	12.3±7.3	1.8±2.02	0.1
Duration of use of AED (years)	(0.17–31)	(0.08–24)	(0–4)
*Seizure semiology, n (%)*
Focal seizure	16 (41.0)	11 (52.4)	3 (37.5)	0.36
Generalized seizure	23 (59.0)	10 (47.6)	5 (62.5)
*Number of pregnancies, n (%)*
Nulliparous	27 (69.2)	14 (66.7)	6 (75.0)	0.34
Multiparous	12 (30.8)	7 (33.3)	2 (25.0)
*Electroencephalogram, n (%)*
Normal	15 (38.5)	5 (23.8)	5 (62.5)	0.6
Abnormal	24 (61.5)	16 (76.2)	3 (37.5)
*Cerebral imaging (MRI), n (%)*
Abnormal	7 (17.9)	6 (28.6)	0 (0)	0.5

Table 2

Association between the frequency of seizures during pregnancy with neonatal birth weight, head circumference and height.

Parameters	Seizure frequency in pregnancy: unchanged / decreased / increased			P-value
Parameters	Unchanged	Decreased	Increased	P-value
		Mean±SDMedian (Min-Max)
Birth weight (g)	3064±6233105 (1360–4210)	3324±6673410 (1200–4150)	3122±6753110 (1910–3620)	0.812
Head circumference (cm)	33.127±2.46934 (28–37)	34.965±1.99034 (30–38)	32.767±2.36933 (29–37)	0.832
Height (cm)	48.47±3.44150 (40–53)	49.08±3.77749 (41–51)	47.75±3.30649 (40–52)	0.626

Table 3

Clinical data of patients experiencing fetal/neonatal malformation or stillbirth.

Sr #	Seizure Semiology	Medication used	Frequency of seizures during pregnancy	Malformation Category	Malformation Name
Patient 1	Generalized seizure	CBZ 900 mg/day	Increased	Intrauterine death	Severe intrauterine growth restriction leading to intrauterine fetal death
Patient 2	Focal seizure	CBZ 1000 mg/dayLMT 200 mg/day	Decreased	Facial malformation	Cleft lip and cleft palate
Patient 3	Generalized seizure	VPA 500 mg/dayLMT 50 mg/day	Unchanged	Intrauterine death	Fetal anencephaly leading to still birth
Patient 4	Focal seizure	CBZ 400 mg/day	Unchanged	Organ malformation	Tetralogy of Fallot
Patient 5	Generalized seizure	VPA 1250 mg/dayLMT 800 mg/day	Unchanged	Organ malformation	Atrial septal defect
Patient 6	Generalized seizure	No drug use	Unchanged	Facial + Organ malformation	Fetal gastroschisis along with cleft palate
CBZ - carbamazepine, VPA - valproic acid, LMT - lamotrigine