Why the study?
Does maternal use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors during early pregnancy increase the risk of severe congenital heart defects in offspring?
Population
72,280 registered pregnancies in Funen, Denmark in the period 1995-2008
Comparison
Selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors used… vs No SSRI use during first trimester
Design
Cohort
Key result
Maternal use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors during the first trimester increased the risk of severe congenital heart defects in offspring by four times (AOR 4.03).
Authors
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May warrant caution with first-trimester SSRI use; leaves open causal confirmation in larger studies.
Cohort (n=72,280)
Does maternal use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors during early pregnancy increase the risk of severe congenital heart defects in offspring?
Effect estimate: AOR 4.03 (95% CI 1.75-9.26)
Absolute Event Rate: 0.71% vs 0.17%
Maternal use of SSRIs during the first trimester is associated with a four-fold increased risk of severe congenital heart defects in offspring, though not septal defects.
Knudsen et al. (2014) conducted a cohort in Pregnancy (n=72,280). Selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) vs. Unexposed (no SSRI prescription during the exposure window) was evaluated on Severe congenital heart defects (AOR 4.03, 95% CI 1.75-9.26). Maternal use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors during the first trimester increased the risk of severe congenital heart defects in offspring by four times (AOR 4.03).