Abstracts

Rationale: Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are well known to associate with an increased risk of major congenital malformations in women who become pregnant while taking them. However, the number of women prescribed antiepileptic drugs through pregnancy is increasing(1,2). No longer restricted to the treatment of active epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs are frequently utilised in a variety of off-label indications, including migraine, psychiatric disorders, chronic pain and sleep. As the indications for antiepileptic drugs continue to diversify, novel AEDs emerge, and polytherapy becomes more prevalent, the volume of information relating to risk and teratogenicity can therefore become unmanageable for the clinican. This makes accurate education of pregnant women treated with AEDs regarding the risk of major congenital malformations challenging. Methods: N/A Results: To enable clinicians to provide better information regarding the potential teratogenic risk of anti-epileptic medications, we have created ‘EpiRisk’, a public-facing online clinical tool compatible with all modern internet browsers, smart phones and personal computers that serves as a repository for calculating the risk of major congenital malformations in pregnant women treated for active epilepsy. Using the most current published data, as well as “real world” data from the UK & Ireland and the Australian Pregnancy Registers, EpiRisk enables clinicians to quickly and accurately assess the risk of the teratogenic side effects of AEDs in mono- and polytherapy. EpiRisk also allows clinicians to monitor changes in the quoted risk of AED therapies through the creation of custom therapy observation groups that update in real-time as new studies are published, enabling fast and reliable access to the latest risk analyses. Epilepsy and pregnancy registers are able to connect to EpiRisk for automatic promotion to users based on geographic location thereby enhancing registration of more pregnant women taking AEDs which in turn will continuously improve understanding of the risks that AEDs may pose in pregnancy. Conclusions: EpiRisk is a novel online tool that serves as a future-proof central hub for empowering patients, clinicians and registries to provide the best possible information on the risk of the teratogenic effects of antiepileptic drugs. Funding: N/A