Abstract
‘The drug treatment of epilepsy in pregnancy’—is a specific and clear title but unfortunately rather limiting in scope, particularly since Dr Roy Meadow discusses an important area in the next chapter. I propose, therefore, to expand my subject into the following areas.
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1.
Should a woman with epilepsy have children?
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2.
Is epilepsy particularly prone to start during pregnancy?
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3.
If already present, do seizures become more or less frequent during pregnancy?
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4.
What variations are there in the pharmacology of anticonvulsant drugs during pregnancy?
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5.
What risk is there of the administration of anticonvulsants to the mother resulting in intoxication of the child, either via the placenta, or via the milk?
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6.
How should status epilepticus be treated during pregnancy, and why is there a difference in the drugs used for treating status and eclampsia?
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References
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Hopkins, A. (1977). The Drug Treatment of Epilepsy in Pregnancy. In: Lewis, P.J. (eds) Therapeutic Problems in Pregnancy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7927-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7927-0_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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