Lithium Use during Pregnancy and the Risk of Miscarriage

Eline M. P. Poels, Astrid M. Kamperman, Annabel Vreeker, Janneke Gilden, Marco P. Boks, René S. Kahn, Roel A. Ophoff, Veerle Bergink
2020 Journal of Clinical Medicine  
Recent studies have provided new data on the teratogenicity of lithium. Less is known about the risk of miscarriage after lithium use during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between lithium use during pregnancy and miscarriage. Participants were women with bipolar I disorder and one or more pregnancies, of which information on medication use and pregnancy outcome was available (n = 443). The unadjusted odds ratios for miscarriage after lithium use during
more » ... ncy was calculated. Multilevel logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio, adjusted for the age at conception and the clustering of pregnancies per woman. Miscarriages occurred in 20.8% of the lithium-exposed pregnancies (16/77), compared with 10.9% of the unexposed pregnancies (40/366) (OR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.13–4.06). The adjusted odds ratio of miscarriage after lithium use during pregnancy was 2.94 (95% CI: 1.39–6.22). Lithium use during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage.
doi:10.3390/jcm9061819 pmid:32545238 fatcat:uignjt5ptnhcjexcgsfqjsvvaa