Antiepileptic Drugs Usage in Pregnant Women with Epilepsy in Saudi Arabia

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders requiring continuous treatment during pregnancy. In Saudi Arabia, there is only one publication that studied the outcome of pregnancies in women with epilepsy, published in 1999. The aim of the study is to determine the major congenital malformations in infants resulting from exposure to antiepileptic drugs in pregnant women with epilepsy.

This is a retrospective observational study that was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, involving pregnant women with epilepsy using antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy. We also studied babies born to those mothers. The study period was 5 years from 2014 to 2018.

Six hundred babies were included in the study, born to 154 mothers with epilepsy using antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy. In addition, there were 111 losses of fetuses before 20 weeks of gestation. The only malformation detected was a ventricular septal defect in one child, whose mother was using polytherapy (valproic acid and levetiracetam). Three babies were born with epilepsy, and four babies had other associated disorders (Down syndrome, osteoporosis, esotropia, and hearing impairment).

The results of this small study are an urgent call for the establishment of congenital malformations registry in Saudi Arabia. In addition, specialized epilepsy clinics utilizing multidisciplinary care are highly recommended. A specific group of interest for such clinics are married women, who have epilepsy and are using antiepileptic drugs since planning of pregnancy is not part of the culture in Saudi Arabia.