American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 203, Issue 1 , Pages 52.e1-52.e6, July 2010

Maternal use of bupropion and risk for congenital heart defects

Presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Teratology Society in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, June 27-July 1, 2009, and at the 25th International Conference of Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management in Providence, Rhode Island, August 16-19, 2009.

  • Sura Alwan, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • ,
  • Jennita Reefhuis, PhD

      Affiliations

    • National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprints: Jennita Reefhuis, PhD, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., MS E-86, Atlanta, GA 30333
    • ,
  • Lorenzo D. Botto, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
    • ,
  • Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD, MS

      Affiliations

    • National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
    • ,
  • Adolfo Correa, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
    • ,
  • Jan M. Friedman, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • ,
  • National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Received 9 October 2009; received in revised form 10 December 2009; accepted 8 February 2010. published online 26 April 2010.

Objective

We sought to determine if maternal bupropion treatment in early pregnancy is associated with congenital heart defects in the infant.

Study Design

We conducted a retrospective case-control study of birth defects risk factors. Data on 6853 infants with major heart defects were compared with 5869 control infants born in 1997–2004. Bupropion exposure was defined as any reported use between 1 month before and 3 months after conception.

Results

Mothers of infants with left outflow tract heart defects were more likely to have reported taking bupropion than mothers of control infants (adjusted odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–5.7; P = .01).

Conclusion

We identified a positive association between early pregnancy bupropion use and left outflow tract heart defects; however, the magnitude of the observed increased risk was small. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to confirm these results.

Key words: birth defects, bupropion exposure, congenital heart defects, pregnancy

 

 Cite this article as: Alwan S, Reefhuis J, Botto LD, et al. Maternal use of bupropion and risk for congenital heart defects. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2010;203:52.e1-6.

 The National Birth Defects Prevention Study is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PII: S0002-9378(10)00220-6

doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2010.02.015

American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 203, Issue 1 , Pages 52.e1-52.e6, July 2010