The rapid development of pharmacotherapy has resulted in a growing clinical importance for the treatment of the increasing number of women with schizophrenia during pregnancy. An evolving database on reproductive health safety factors for women with schizophrenia has begun to be of assistance in optimising clinical benefits for women with ...

Migraine is common during pregnancy, but fortunately this combination of conditions obviously exists for only a finite period. The greatest frequency of migraine attacks occurs during the first trimester. Accurate diagnosis is a sine qua non in this setting as in any headache patient. It is in the first trimester ...

Women are at greatest risk of suffering from depression during the childbearing years and thus may either become pregnant while taking an antidepressant or may require a prescription for one during pregnancy. The antidepressant fluoxetine (FX) is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which increases serotonin neurotransmission. Serotonin is involved ...

A case of coma due to carbamazepine ingestion with the intention of committing suicide at 33 weeks' gestation is presented. Management included activated charcoal administration and exchange plasmapheresis. A fetal non-stress test was non-reassuring but the Apgar score, cord blood gases and early neonatal outcome were normal. Differential diagnosis of ...

In a prospective study carried out in New Halfa Teaching Hospital, in eastern Sudan, between June 2001 and April 2003, 25 pregnant Sudanese women with schistosomiasis mansoni were each treated with a single oral dose of praziquantel (PZQ), at 40 mg/kg. The drug was given to six (24%), 12 (48%) ...

Mood disorders in pregnancy may have a negative effect on self care and pregnancy outcome that affects the mother directly and the child indirectly. Thus, some women may require pharmacological treatment. Pharmacotherapy of mood disorders during pregnancy implies specific considerations. This paper presents an updated review of available studies on ...

Observational studies have documented that women take a variety of medications during pregnancy. It is well known that pregnancy can induce changes in the plasma concentrations of some drugs. The use of mechanistic-based approaches to drug interactions has significantly increased our ability to predict clinically significant drug interactions and improve ...

BACKGROUND: Herbal drugs are often promoted as 'natural' and 'safe'. These claims may especially attract pregnant women who are often concerned about their unborn child's well-being. Few studies have assessed the use of herbal drugs in pregnancy and the factors related to this use. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of ...

Echinacea spp. are native to North America and were traditionally used by the Indian tribes for a variety of ailments, including mouth sores, colds and snake-bites. The three most commonly used Echinacea spp. are E. angustifolia, E. pallida and E. purpurea. Systematic literature searches were conducted in six electronic databases ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical problem to complicate pregnancy. Asthmatic women have been shown to be at an increased risk of complications during pregnancy. Managing asthma during pregnancy is unique because the effects of both the illness and the treatment on the developing fetus ...

Corticosteroids are potent antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs, which are used in the treatment of a wide range of medical disorders. During pregnancy, several corticosteroids are administered for maternal as well as fetal reasons. Prednisone and prednisolone show limited transplacental passage and are thus used for treatment of maternal disease. Dexamethasone ...

Pharmacotherapy in pregnant women is often necessary to treat chronic or relapsing depression or anxiety disorders. Studies that have evaluated the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in early pregnancy have not shown an enhanced risk of major congenital malformations and these results may have contributed to the increasing ...

Environmental teratogenic factors (e.g. alcohol) are preventable. We focus our analysis on human teratogenic drugs which are not used frequently during pregnancy. The previous human teratogenic studies had serious methodological problems, e.g. the first trimester concept is outdated because environmental teratogens cannot induce congenital abnormalities in the first month of ...

Psychotropic drug exposure during pregnancy is a common problem. Among the 601 cases exposed to drugs during pregnancy, who were followed by our Toxicology Information and Follow-up Service, 124 cases had used psychotropic drugs for depression, anxiety, or psychotic disorders. As the control group, 248 women, who did not use ...

BACKGROUND: Although medications are frequently used during pregnancy, premarketing studies exclude pregnant women, with the result that maternal and fetal risks of medications are largely unknown prior to marketing. METHODS: To demonstrate the feasibility of using Teratology Information Services (TISs) to identify potential subjects who may participate in postmarketing surveillance ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk of major malformations in pregnant women with chronic inflammatory disorders treated with low dose methotrexate (MTX) during the first trimester of pregnancy. Secondary outcomes included the rate of miscarriage, birth weight, and gestational age at delivery. METHODS: Data from the French network of 31 pharmacovigilance ...

Antidepressant drug choice in pregnancy is a complex problem especially for new drugs. Among 590 cases exposed to drugs during pregnancy who were followed by our center, 21 cases used newer antidepressants, i.e., venlafaxine, mirtazapine, nefazodone. We present the gestational findings and fetal outcomes of these cases. Ten cases had ...

Women are conventionally advised to stop tamoxifen before attempting pregnancy. The risks of congenital malformations or late teratogenic manifestations in adulthood are unknown. Following an informed discussion about the uncertainties of tamoxifen exposure on pregnancy women should be offered the choice whether to continue or stop tamoxifen before attempting pregnancy. ...

Seizures in pregnancy are a life-threatening emergency that continues to be a major cause of serious maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. We report a rare cause of new onset of seizures in pregnancy: hydrocephalus caused by aqueductal stenosis. The differential diagnosis of seizures in pregnancy is discussed in detail.

Asthma is estimated to affect up to 4% of pregnancies. Management of asthma during pregnancy follows the same approach as in the general population. Aggressive treatment should be entertained because asthma under poor control during pregnancy can lead to poor outcomes for the mother and child. The foundations of management ...

Ideal, comprehensive care of women who have epilepsy during the reproductive years must include effective preconceptional counseling and preparation. The importance of planned pregnancies with effective birth control should be emphasized, with consideration of the effects of the enzyme-inducing AEDs on lowering efficacy of hormonal contraceptive medications and the need ...

To compare the incidence of foetal malformations (FMs) in pregnant women with epilepsy treated with different anti-epileptic drugs (AED) and doses, and the influence of seizures, family and personal history, and environmental factors. A prospective, observational, community-based cohort study. METHODS: A voluntary, Australia-wide, telephone-interview-based register prospectively enrolling three groups of ...

Migraine and TTH are primary headache disorders that occur commonly during pregnancy. Migraine sometimes occurs for the first time with pregnancy. The majority of migraineurs improve while pregnant; however, migraine often recurs post partum. Some disorders that produce, headache, such as stroke, cerebral venous thrombosis, eclampsia, and SAH, occur more ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prescription of drugs in Germany prior to, during and after pregnancy. METHODS: For the first time, prescription data of a large cohort of pregnant women, from a German statutory sickness fund, were available for scientific analysis. For each woman who gave birth between June 2000 and ...

Implantation in humans is a complex, closely regulated, highly selective and relatively poorly understood process. Humans have the highest rate of miscarriage in mammals and various pharmacological manipulations have been used to minimize pregnancy losses in both spontaneous pregnancies and pregnancies resulting from assisted reproduction technology. The widespread application of ...

BACKGROUND: Acitretin is an aromatic retinoid analog of vitamin A. Drugs of this group are well-known teratogenic agents. Nevertheless, acitretin embryopathy has been described only in fetuses. CASE: An infant was exposed to 10 mg/day of acitretin from the beginning of pregnancy until the 10th gestational week. At term, the ...

One of the indications for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may be the use of antiretroviral agents during pregnancy. We report on a case in which repeated low plasma levels of nelfinavir were observed. After an initial good virologic response, virologic failure appeared to occur, and dose modifications guided by TDM ...

A rational approach to the treatment of women of childbearing potential with epilepsy has been hampered by the lack of conclusive data on the comparative teratogenic potential of different antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Although, several cohort studies on birth defects associated with AED use during pregnancy have been published, these have ...

Asthma is one of the most common medical conditions that can complicate pregnancy. Although most pregnant women with asthma have controlled disease, some women may experience exacerbation of their disease, necessitating immediate intervention. This article discusses the interrelations between asthma and pregnancy and presents an overview on the management of ...

Ropivacaine (Naropin, AstraZeneca) a new long-acting amide local anaesthetic agent, is a pure S-enantiomer, with a high pKa and relatively low-lipid solubility. Since its clinical introduction in 1996, it has been the focus of intense interest because of its increased CNS and cardiovascular safety compared with bupivacaine. This article reviews ...

A chemoenzymatic approach has been developed to synthesize poly(ethylene glycol)-based amphiphilic copolymers under mild reaction conditions that self-assemble in aqueous media to form polymeric nanomicelles in the range of 20-50 nm. The supramolecular organization of polymeric nanomicelles was studied by 1H NMR longitudinal relaxation time (T1) and light scattering techniques ...

There are few reports about drug-related effects on PD pregnancy. We describe the case of a woman affected by PD treated with pramipexole monotherapy during pregnancy. The child, born by caesarean delivery, is healthy, whereas motor disability of the mother progressively increased to the point that levodopa therapy was necessary.

Schistosomiasis control programmes are generally based on mass distribution of praziquantel (PZQ). This approach has been further strengthened by studies that demonstrated reduction in schistosomiasis-related morbidity following regular use of PZQ. Many women were excluded from this therapy when pregnant. Since a high degree of parity is achieved in many ...

We report three patients with bilateral choanal atresia in children prenatally exposed to methimazole (MMI) in order to define a MMI embryopathy clinical pattern. The combination of choanal atresia and other specific malformations strongly resembles previously reported patients exposed to MMI in utero. At present, propylthiouracil is considered the best ...

The authors describe 12 pregnancies in women with epilepsy using lamotrigine (LTG) monotherapy. A seizure increase in nine pregnancies was probably related to a gradual decline of LTG level-to-dose ratio to 40% of baseline. After delivery, LTG kinetics returned swiftly to baseline, causing toxic side effects in some women. Frequent ...

BACKGROUND: Clonazepam (Klonopin) is a benzodiazepine that has been used widely to treat seizures and conditions such as panic attacks and anxiety disorder. However, the current findings about its use in pregnancy are derived from limited studies of small sample size. Because it is commonly prescribed during pregnancy, more information ...

PURPOSE: To observe pregnancies exposed to latanoprost, a prostaglandin analog administered in the treatment of glaucoma. Its prescription is limited in pregnancy, because reproduction studies in animals report a high incidence of abortion and human investigations are not adequate. As a consequence it is classified as category C drug according ...

BACKGROUND: Case-control studies have suggested that the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) may have a protective effect against specific malformations. These suggestions have been interpreted as if the lack of NVP may put mothers at an increased teratogenic risk. METHODS: A prospective, cohort-controlled study was done comparing pregnancy outcome ...

Care of pregnant women with multiple sclerosis (MS) is challenging because of the multiple physiological changes associated with pregnancy and the need to consider the impact of any intervention on the foetus. Pregnancy is associated with clinical MS stability or improvement, while the rate of relapse rises significantly during the ...

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) affects up to 80% of all women to some degree during their pregnancies. Diclectin (doxylamine and pyridoxine [vitamin B6]) has been on the Canadian market for many years and is indicated as the drug of choice for the treatment of NVP. However, some women ...

This article explores the dilemma of whether women with mental illness should take potentially teratogenic psychotropic medications during pregnancy, from both the maternal and fetal perspectives. Ethical and social aspects of the dilemma are presented to assist perinatal and psychiatric practitioners to provide holistic and competent care to the mother/fetus ...

Pregnancy results in physiologic changes in almost all organ systems in the body mediated mainly by female sex hormones. Physiologic changes of pregnancy influence the dental management of women during pregnancy. Understanding these normal changes is essential for providing quality care for pregnant women. This review article briefly discusses the ...

Asthma is the most common potentially serious medical problem to complicate pregnancy. Recent reports suggest that 7 of every 100 pregnant women suffer from asthma during pregnancy. Asthmatic women have been shown to be at an increased risk of complications during pregnancy. This may be secondary to inadequately controlled asthma ...

OBJECTIVES: To review potential risks of eye medications to the mother and her foetus. DATA SOURCES: PubMed search for all relevant articles (1966 to 2003). STUDY SELECTION: All types of publication that documented potential risks of eye medications during pregnancy. The following key words were used: pregnancy, fetus, teratogenicity, eye, ...

The subject is a diabetic and hypertensive woman treated early during an unplanned pregnancy with a multi-drug regimen that included three drugs with no prior history for use in pregnant women (rosiglitazone, gliclazide, atorvastatin). She was under care for chronic hypertension, which she suffered for 14 years, and diabetes mellitus, ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the use of herbal drugs by pregnant women. METHODS: We interviewed 400 postpartum women at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, Norway about the use of herbal drugs, within 3 days after giving birth by using a structured questionnaire in the period from February to June 2001. RESULTS: ...

The course of asthma during pregnancy is variable. When the total pregnant asthmatic population is considered, one-third improve, one-third are unchanged, and one-third experience increased symptoms. The course of asthma may be influenced by the many physiologic changes during pregnancy as well as the severity of the pre-existing asthma. Prospective ...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway system that is characterized by bronchoconstriction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness that are triggered by a host of stimuli. Asthma is the most common respiratory disease in pregnancy and affects approximately 4% of pregnant women. This article reviews asthma as a public health ...

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the available literature regarding the safety of atypical antipsychotics in pregnancy and lactation in order to recommend evidence-based strategies for pharmacologic management of psychosis in these conditions. DATA SOURCES: We summarized the results from articles identified via MEDLINE/PubMed/TOXNET (1993-January 31, 2004), using the key terms pregnancy, lactation, ...

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of recreational drug abuse among young adults, including women, has increased markedly over the last 2 decades. Nearly 90 % of these women are of childbearing age. Marijuana remains the drug most commonly used for recreational purposes in pregnancy. However, there appears to be an absence of ...