Patterns of antiseizure medication prescription in pregnancy and maternal complications in women with epilepsy: A retrospective study in Saudi Arabia

AIM: To evaluate patterns of antiseizure medication (ASM) prescription in pregnancy and changes over a 16-year period: 2005–2020, and to investigate maternal complications in pregnant women with epilepsy (WWE). METHOD: Data of pregnant WWE was retrospectively reviewed at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Out of 162 pregnancies, 81.5% were prescribed ASMs. During the study period, the prescription rate increased from 68.8% to 93.5%. Between 2005 and 2020, the use of new ASMs increased from 15.4% to 75.5% (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, valproate use markedly decreased from 23.08% to 2.04%. The rate of maternal and delivery complications was 29.6%; the most frequent was gestational diabetes (5.6%), followed by bleeding during pregnancy (4.9%). Furthermore, preeclampsia and eclampsia were documented in 3.7% and 1.8%, respectively. ASMs use and other factors were not found to be associated with maternal complications (p > 0.05). However, first generation ASMs, i.e. carbamazepine (38.71%) and valproate (41.67%), were associated with higher maternal complication rates than new ASMs, i.e. levetiracetam (25%) and lamotrigine (20%), but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.4403). CONCLUSION: ASM prescription in pregnancy is increasing as is the use of new ASMs. The rate of maternal and delivery complications was relatively low, particularly preeclampsia and eclampsia. ASMs use was not found to associated with these complications. However, exposure to first generation ASMs seemed to be a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes.