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Antipsychotic medication poses little risk to developing fetus

Date:
August 17, 2016
Source:
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Summary:
Researchers found that the use of APMs in pregnancy does not meaningfully increase the risk of congenital malformations or cardiac malformations, with the possible exception of risperidone.
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Exposure to antipsychotic medications (APMs) during pregnancy is increasingly common. Widespread use of newer "atypical" drugs which are less likely to affect fertility than the older "typical" antipsychotics, combined with the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients, is attributed to doubling the use of antipsychotics during pregnancy in the past decade, yet, clinicians have little information regarding the safety of these drugs for the developing fetus and concerns have been raised about a potential association with congenital malformations.

In a new study at Brigham and Women's Hospital published in JAMA Psychiatry on August 17, 2016, researchers examined the risk of congenital malformations overall, and cardiac malformations in particular, in association with first trimester exposure to different APMs in a large population-based cohort study. Researchers found that the use of APMs in pregnancy does not meaningfully increase the risk of congenital malformations or cardiac malformations, with the possible exception of risperidone.

"Our findings help inform psychiatrists and their patients about the risk of using APMs during early pregnancy," stated Krista F.G. Huybrechts, MS, PhD, associate epidemiologist in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at BWH. "In general, the use of any medication should be avoided during pregnancy. However, for women suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder, avoiding medication use is often impossible, given that there are very few alternative treatment options."

Huybrechts and her colleagues analyzed data from a nationwide sample of 1,341,715 pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid from three months before their last menstrual period through at least one month after delivery. Exposure to APMs was determined based on documentation which indicated that at least one prescription for APMs was filled during the first 90 days of pregnancy. Typical and atypical APMs were evaluated as two separate classes, as well as the most frequently used individual medications: aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and ziprasidone.

Among the women studied, 9, 258 women (0.69 percent) filled a prescription for an atypical APM, and 733 women (0.05 percent) filed a prescription for a typical APM. Researchers found that 4.45 percent of births exposed to atypical APMs and 3.82 percent of births exposed to typical APMs were associated with congenital malformations. Among women who did not fill a prescription for an APM, 3.27 percent of births were diagnosed with congenital malformations. The findings for cardiac malformations were similar.

After controlling for other possible contributing mental and physical conditions and their associated behaviors, researchers found no significant increased risk for either congenital malformations or cardiac malformations among women who took either typical or atypical APMs in the first 90 days of pregnancy, with the possible exception of risperidone which continued to show a slightly increased risk.

"Further research is needed to assess whether the increased risk for risperidone reflects a true casual association or a chance finding," Huybrechts said.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Brigham and Women's Hospital. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Brian T. Bateman, MD, MSc et al. Antipsychotic Use in Pregnancy and the Risk for Congenital Malformations. JAMA Psychiatry, August 2016 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1520

Cite This Page:

Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Antipsychotic medication poses little risk to developing fetus." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 August 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160817131400.htm>.
Brigham and Women's Hospital. (2016, August 17). Antipsychotic medication poses little risk to developing fetus. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160817131400.htm
Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Antipsychotic medication poses little risk to developing fetus." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160817131400.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

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