October 2016
/Ondansetron Use in Pregnancy and Birth Defects
A Systematic Review.
Obstet Gynecol 2016;127:878-83
Ondansetron has become one of the most prescribed antiemetics for treating nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Despite its apparent safety, concerns have been raised regarding its safety. This paper is a metaanalysis of 8 studies concluding that while the overall risk is very low there is also inconsistent evidence of a small increase in cardiac defects.
Prospective Study of Pregnancy and Newborn Outcomes in Mothers with West Nile Illness during Pregnancy.
Birth Def Res A (2016): 106:716–723.
Western Nile virus has yet to hit the headlines as Zika but it can cause acute encephalitis in the mother and concern has also been raised that it might induce neurologic abnormalities in the newborn. This paper reports a prospective longitudinal cohort study of 28 patients. While the study is small, there appeared to be no increased risk of adverse outcomes despite the higher incidence of febrile illness and medication use in infected mothers.
Evaluation of pregnancy outcomes from the Tysabri® (natalizumab) pregnancy exposure registry: a global, observational, follow-up study.
Natalizumab can be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. It is unclear from animal studies whether it crosses the placenta and there are few human studies. This paper reports on the 369 patients enrolled in the Tysabri pregnancy registry. To date, the spontaneous abortion rate was similar to general population. Overall rate of birth defects, while slightly higher than control population, showed no consistent pattern suggestive of a drug effect.