Epilepsy Medication May Increase Chances Of Having Child With Autism When Taken During Pregnancy

Valproate, a drug used to treat epilepsy and other neuropsychological disorders, may increase the odds of a child developing autism if taken during while the mother is pregnant.

The study examined all children born alive in Denmark from 1996 to 2006 and used national registers to identify children who would have been exposed to the drug and were subsequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. This includes childhood autism, Asperger syndrome, atypical autism and “other unspecified pervasive developmental disorders,” according to the study’s researchers.

After adjusting for variables such as maternal and paternal age at conception, gestational age, birth weight, sex and parental psychiatric history among other things, the researchers found that “maternal use of valproate during pregnancy was associated with a significantly increased risk of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in the offspring.”

This was true even after taking into account maternal epilepsy.

In all, of 655,615 children born during the 10-year-period, a total of 5,437 were identified with autism spectrum disorder, including 2,067 with childhood autism, the follow-up mean being 8.8 years.

Of that number, filled valproate prescriptions suggested 508 of the children included in the survey were exposed to the drug during gestation.

When compared with those whose mothers discontinued use of the drug 30 days prior to conception, those who continued with it during pregnancy showed a 2.2-fold higher risk of having a child with an autism spectrum disorder and a 5.6-fold higher risk of childhood autism.

When compared to children of mothers with epilepsy (423 of the 508 prescribed the medicine), the risk of autism was 2.9 times higher with valproate exposure.

However, exposure during the first trimester didn’t appear to influence the risk, though researchers recognize that this information is only based on when prescriptions were filled – whether or not the women consumed the medication immediately or not is unknown.

In conclusion, the researchers urged that for women “of childbearing potential who use antiepileptic medications, these findings must be balanced against the treatment benefits for women who require valproate epilepsy control.”