Pregnancy outcome after gestational exposure to mebendazole: A prospective controlled cohort study

Objective: Mebendazole is an anthelmintic that is commonly needed in women of reproductive age. Its use in pregnancy is a reason for concern for women and their health care providers. The purpose of this study was to examine the fetal safety of mebendazole. Study Design: The Israeli Teratogen Inform...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 2003-01, Vol.188 (1), p.282-285
Main Authors: Diav-Citrin, Orna, Shechtman, Svetlana, Arnon, Judy, Lubart, Israela, Ornoy, Asher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abnormalities, Drug-Induced - epidemiology
Abortion, Induced - statistics & numerical data
Adult
Antinematodal Agents - adverse effects
Biological and medical sciences
Birth Weight
Cohort Studies
congenital anomalies
Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment
Enterobiasis - drug therapy
Female
Gestational Age
Humans
Maternal-Fetal Exchange
Mebendazole
Mebendazole - administration & dosage
Mebendazole - adverse effects
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous (drug allergy, mutagens, teratogens...)
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: Mebendazole is an anthelmintic that is commonly needed in women of reproductive age. Its use in pregnancy is a reason for concern for women and their health care providers. The purpose of this study was to examine the fetal safety of mebendazole. Study Design: The Israeli Teratogen Information Service prospectively collected and followed 192 pregnancies exposed to mebendazole in pregnancy, 71.5% of whom had first-trimester exposure. Pregnancy outcome was compared with that of a matched control group, who were counseled for nonteratogenic exposure. Results: There was no increase in the rate of major malformations between the groups (5/150 pregnancies [3.3%; mebendazole] vs 3/175 pregnancies [1.7%; nonteratogenic control subjects]; P = .478). There was a higher rate of elective terminations of pregnancy in the exposed group compared with the control group (22/192 pregnancies [11.5%; mebendazole] vs 3/192 pregnancies [1.6% [nonteratogenic control subjects]; P = .000). Conclusion: This study suggests that mebendazole does not represent a major teratogenic risk in humans when it is used in the doses that are used commonly for pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis) infestation. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;188:282-5.)
ISSN:0002-9378
1097-6868
DOI:10.1067/mob.2003.79