[Postpartum seizures in 2 epileptic patients]

E Gredilla1, A Pérez Ferrer, I Fornet

  • 1Servicio de Anestesiología y Reanimación, Hospital Universitario Maternal La Paz, Madrid.

We report the cases of 2 women with epilepsy who suffered generalized postpartum seizures on the first day after giving birth. The first had a history of febrile convulsions in childhood and had a seizure in the 36th week of gestation due to sleep deprivation. She had received epidural analgesia for labor pain. The second patient had had her most recent crisis at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy. Both patients had low serum levels of antiepileptic drugs. The pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs can change during pregnancy, making seizures more difficult to control. Serum levels of these drugs should therefore be monitored more often, given that a generalized maternal seizure can have devastating consequences for the fetus. More careful planning and management of pregnancy is necessary for epileptic patients to ensure successful outcomes for both mother and fetus.

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