[Case Report on a Woman with Epilepsy Who Took Lacosamide during Pregnancy and Gave Birth to a Healthy Infant].

Lacosamide is a novel antiepileptic drug. Although many antiepileptic drugs reportedly pose a risk to fetuses, patients with epilepsy are advised to continue their medications during pregnancy. There have been few reports on lacosamide use during pregnancy, and its effects on the fetus remain unclear. Here, we report a case of lacosamide use during pregnancy. The 33-year-old patient was treated with oral lacosamide (400 mg/d) for symptomatic partial epilepsy. She was concomitantly treated with folic acid (5 mg/d) beginning 4 days before her last menstrual cycle. She was also concomitantly treated with oral perampanel (2 mg/d) at 5-7 weeks' gestation for seizure control but discontinued perampanel after the pregnancy was discovered. She progressed through her pregnancy with only mild seizures. Fetal growth was normal and ultrasonography revealed no external malformations. The patient had an elective cesarean section at 37 weeks and 2 days owing to a previous post-cesarean pregnancy. Her baby boy weighed 3025 g; his Apgar score was 8 and 9, 1 and 5 min, respectively, and his umbilical artery blood pH was 7.348. He had no congenital anomalies and no neonatal drug withdrawal symptoms. This suggests that lacosamide may have a low risk of teratogenicity and fetal toxicity. Thus, this case is valuable for clinicians who are considering the administration of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy. In the future, more reports on the use of lacosamide during pregnancy should be collected.

Benzodiazepine Concentrations in the Breast Milk and Plasma of Nursing Mothers: Estimation of Relative Infant Dose.

Objective: Benzodiazepines are common therapies for mental illness and insomnia, and are used during pregnancy and lactation. Although benzodiazepines have been shown to be transferred into breast milk, the amount transferred is small and compatible with breastfeeding. However, information is not available for all drugs. Therefore, we aimed to determine the milk to plasma (M/P) ratio and relative infant dose (RID), which are used as indicators of drug transfer to breast milk, to determine the safety of such drugs for lactating women and breastfeeding infants. Methods: The study comprised of 11 pregnant women who visited the obstetrics department of Hokkaido University Hospital (approval number: 017-0131) and Tenshi Hospital (approval number: 103) for childbirth. The samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and the M/P ratio and RID were calculated. The condition of the mother and baby at 1 month after delivery was determined from the clinical information. The target benzodiazepines were alprazolam, brotizolam, clonazepam, clotiazepam, etizolam, ethyl loflazepate, flunitrazepam, and lorazepam. Results: For all drugs, the M/P ratios were <1 and remained constant over time. For drugs other than ethyl loflazepate, the RID values were <10%, which are considered safe; however, even with ethyl loflazepate, it was only slightly >10%. No abnormalities were found in breastfeeding infants whose mothers were receiving these medications. Conclusions: The RID results of this study suggest that drug exposure through breast milk is small; thus, maternal drug treatment and breastfeeding are compatible.