Abstract
This study investigates teratogenic effects of antiepileptic drugs (AED) by tracing from birth to adolescence 67 children born to epileptic women and a matched control sample of 49 children. We assessed the intellectual performance (Wechsler-Intelligence Tests) at adolescence as well as the prevalence of psycho-behavioral problems and the relationship to their parents. Adolescents who had been exposed to only one kind of drug during gestation (monotherapy), achieved moderately lower IQ's than those of the control group (-6 IQ scores). However, the effect was salient in polydrug-exposed offspring (-12 IQ scores). Generalized (major) maternal seizures during pregnancy did not add to this effect. The families' psychosocial ecology affected risk and control participants differentially: The intellectual development of adolescents with prenatal risks was significantly more vulnerable to adverse environmental circumstances than was that of controls. With regard to psychological stress the affected children unexpectedly reported significantly less psychological stress than the controls even though they had to assist their mothers more frequently and although they reported receiving little support from them
Titze, Karl