[Epilepsy and pregnancy. Apropos of 50 cases]

This work is a report on the follow-up of 50 pregnant epileptic women who were looked after in the Gynaecological and Obstetric Service of La Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris. These patients had a generalised form of the disease. Well controlled patients usually had simple pregnancies. On the other hand half of those who had frequent attacks were worse during the pregnancy. It is rare for complications to occur either in the mothers or the neonates. The element that is most serious is the risk of malformation, which is three times as great whatever treatment is used and it does seem to increase according to the number of attacks occurring during the pregnancy. It therefore seems important that all epileptics should be stabilised before each pregnancy and medication should be given and controlled. It is important all the same that these are at-risk pregnancies that require clinical and ultrasound supervision.