First and second trimester laboratory changes and perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with epilepsy

Aims: The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the demographic, first-second trimester laboratory parameters and perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with epilepsy. Methods: The study had a total of 73 pregnant women with epilepsy, along with 149 healthy pregnant women. Demographic data, first-second trimester laboratory parameters, seizures during pregnancy, the administration of antiepileptic medicines and perinatal outcomes were documented from September 2022 to 2023. Pregnant women with epilepsy were formed into subgroups according to whether they had seizures during pregnancy or not and whether they used antiepileptic drugs, and first- and second-trimester laboratory parameters were compared between the groups. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis investigated the relationship between these parameters with the composite adverse neonatal outcomes (CANO). Results: In the study, 72.7% of pregnant women diagnosed with epilepsy were receiving antiepileptic treatment (75.4% monotherapy and 24.6% polytherapy). The incidence of seizures during pregnancy was 38.3%. The epilepsy group exhibited statistically significant differences from the control group in the following areas: gestational age at delivery, preterm birth rate, cesarean section rate, birth weight, neonatal head circumference, APGAR score