- Antiepileptic drugs are suspected of being weakly teratogenic in humans. In a prospective longitudinal study, we assessed growth parameters of children from birth to adolescence who had been prenatally exposed to various antiepileptic drugs and compared them to non-exposed control children matched for parental body length, social status, and maternal nicotine consumption during pregnancy as well as for parity. While no differences in mean head circumferences could be ascertained in the group of exposed children at 1, 6, and 14 years, differences were measured in body length at I year. The differences were more pronounced for both measurements when therapy forms and types of drugs were considered: polytherapy and phenobarbitone therapy (which was usually part of polytherapy) of the mother appeared to have an influence on the children's growth. Children exposed to polytherapy and phenobarbitone (as single drug or as part of polytherapy) had smaller head circumferences and were shorter. We assume an influence of polytherapy andAntiepileptic drugs are suspected of being weakly teratogenic in humans. In a prospective longitudinal study, we assessed growth parameters of children from birth to adolescence who had been prenatally exposed to various antiepileptic drugs and compared them to non-exposed control children matched for parental body length, social status, and maternal nicotine consumption during pregnancy as well as for parity. While no differences in mean head circumferences could be ascertained in the group of exposed children at 1, 6, and 14 years, differences were measured in body length at I year. The differences were more pronounced for both measurements when therapy forms and types of drugs were considered: polytherapy and phenobarbitone therapy (which was usually part of polytherapy) of the mother appeared to have an influence on the children's growth. Children exposed to polytherapy and phenobarbitone (as single drug or as part of polytherapy) had smaller head circumferences and were shorter. We assume an influence of polytherapy and phenobarbitone therapy taken by the epileptic woman during pregnancy on the growth of the child into adolescence…
