[The teratogenic risks of anti-epileptic treatment]

Janz and Fuchs, in 1964, started the question of the teratogenicity of anti-epileptic drugs by their publications. In Poitiers we have carried out a retrospective study on 56 epileptic women who gave birth to 85 children. We found that 12 of these children (14.4%) had malformations. These results confirm that there is a risk of malformation in the use of anti-epileptic measures, a conclusion which corresponds with those of the majority of authors. The hydantoins and the barbiturates seem to have an equal role to play but they do so by different mechanisms. The most common malformations are hare-lips or cleft palates and cardiopathies. The most obvious ones are the facial deformities and skeletal abnormalities; none of these are lethal. In spite of this risk all authors state that it is important to carry on with anti-epileptic treatment for the mothers' sake.