Abstract

Background

Proper seizure control during pregnancy and postpartum is essential to optimize the outcome of women with epilepsy (WWE). The current work aimed to address factors related to seizure occurrence during pregnancy and postpartum.

Methods

One hundred twenty-five WWE, compliant with their anti-seizure medications (ASMs) regimen, were prospectively evaluated for seizure control and ASMs changes all through the pregnancy up to 4 weeks postpartum.

Results

Most of the patients, 73 (58.4%), completed their pregnancy without seizures, while 52 (41.6%) had seizures. Only one case developed one episode of convulsive status epilepticus in the third trimester. Due to breakthrough seizures, the ASM dose was increased from the first to the third trimester in 19.2% of pregnancies, while another ASM was added in 8 pregnancies. Uncontrolled seizures during the six months before pregnancy were associated with a four-fold increase in the risk of seizures during pregnancy (95% CI 2.476–6.695). The latter nearly doubled the risk of seizures during the postpartum period (RR 1.978) (95% CI 1.44 -2.717). Furthermore, genetic etiology would increase the risk of seizures during the postpartum period by 2.7 times more than the unknown etiology (RR 2.778, 95%CI 1.156–6.679).

Conclusion

Women with epilepsy should be counselled that proper seizure control six months before pregnancy is necessary to pass their pregnancy and the postpartum period without seizures.

Details

Title
Seizure control during pregnancy and postpartum period in women with epilepsy: an Egyptian prospective study
Author
Hosny, Hassan; Manal Mahmoud Al Kattan; Zaki, Maha A; Ramzy, Gihan M; Salsabil Abo Al-Azayem; Rehab Magdy
Pages
1-5
Section
Research
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
14712377
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2777773184
Copyright
© 2023. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.