MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal use of bupropion during early pregnancy appears to have a modest positive association with left outflow tract heart defects in infants, according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
In a retrospective case-control study, Sura Alwan, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues compared data on 6,853 infants with major heart defects and 5,869 control infants born between 1997 and 2004. The researchers defined exposure to bupropion as any reported use of the drug between one month prior and three months after conception.
Compared to mothers of infants in the control group, the researchers found that mothers of infants with left outflow tract heart defects were more likely to have reported exposure to bupropion (adjusted odds ratio, 2.6).
"It is important to note that the absolute risk for left outflow tract heart defects we found associated with bupropion exposure is small," the authors write. "Nevertheless, risks and benefits of antidepressant medications need to be considered on a case-by-case basis and clearly presented to women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy so that they can make informed decisions in consultation with their physicians."
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