NSAIDs During First Trimester Linked to Congenital Defects

NSAIDs During First Trimester Linked to Congenital Defects - CME Teaching Brief® - MedPage Today: "MONTREAL, Aug. 24 -- Women who take NSAIDs during the first trimester have a greater risk of having babies with congenital anomalies, particularly cardiac septal defects, researchers here reported.

According to a population-based, nested case-control study of 36,387 pregnant women in Quebec province, women who filled NSAID prescriptions early in pregnancy had more than twice the risk for any congenital defect, reported Anick Berard, Ph.D., of Sainte-Justine Hospital, and colleagues, in the September issue of Birth Defects Research Part B.

Women who took first-trimester NSAIDs also and more than three times the risk of anomalies related to cardiac septal closure, mainly ventricular and atrial septal defects, the investigators found.

The effect of NSAID exposure on the fetus toward the end of pregnancy, causing premature closure of the ductus arteriosus and patent ductus arteriosus, are well documented, but the risks related to NSAID use in early pregnancy are less well defined, they said."/.../