Statin exposure during first trimester of pregnancy is associated with fetal ventricular septal defect

A growing number of young women are exposed to statins during their first trimester of pregnancy. The goal of this study is to examine if first trimester statin exposure is associated with an increase in risk of fetal congenital cardiac anomalies.

In a cohort of 379,238 pregnancies, we examined the risk of fetal congenital cardiac anomalies in association with maternal exposure to statin therapy during the first trimester of pregnancy using logistic regression models and propensity score matching methods.

280 women were exposed to statins. Congenital cardiac anomalies were present in 14 (5.0%) of pregnancies exposed to statin and 5282 (1.4%) of non-exposed pregnancies. First-trimester statin exposure was associated with an increased risk of ventricular septal defect (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]l 1.8-6.0, p < 0.001). This association was confirmed in an analysis using a propensity score-matched cohort (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.0-10.8, p < 0.001).

Exposure to statins during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with fetal ventricular septal defect.