KatCarney

June 1, 2004
Women with PCOS: No increase in birth defects with metformin; Babies' length, weight also unaffected

Steve Perlstein
CHICAGO -- Infants born to women with polycystic ovary syndrome who are taking metformin are not significantly different from their peers in terms of length and weight over the first year of life, said Dr. Charles J. Glueck, director of the cholesterol center at Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati.

Additionally, the study of 123 live births and 119 pregnancies among 108 women found only two birth defects, a rate less than the national average, and the mothers had significantly fewer instances of gestational diabetes than in previous pregnancies, he said at the Clinical Research 2004 meeting.

"In a word, these infants were normal," Dr. Glueck said in an interview with this newspaper. "Importantly, there was no teratogenicity."

Investigators compared length and weight data from the infants in the study at birth and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months to national gender-specific data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mothers in the study all had polycystic ovary syndrome, conceived while on metformin, and continued the drug throughout their pregnancies. Dr. Glueck said at the meeting, sponsored by the American Federation for Medical Research and the Central Society for Clinical Research.

The women were on a regiment of diet control and metformin to reverse their endocrinopathy, he said in an interview with this newspaper. Metformin was continued throughout the pregnancy because of previous research showing that it reduced first trimester miscarriage and the development of gestational diabetes, he said.

At birth, the 123 neonates were significantly longer than those in the CDC statistics, and the two groups were not statistically different in weight. Those results held true for subsequent evaluations through the first year of life, and none of the infants were judged by their pediatricians to have abnormal accretion of height or weight. Dr. Glueck said at the meeting.

With the American Academy of Pediatrics motor-social development questionnaire, mean scores out of a possible 100% for the study cohort were 95% at 3 months, 98% at 6 months, 95% at 9 months, and 97% at 12 months.

Two of the 123 infants (1.6%) had a birth defect: One was born with sacrococcygeal teratoma and one with a tethered spinal cord. The 1.6% birth defect rate was lower than the national average, which is about 4.5%, he said.

Gestational diabetes was diagnosed in 9 of the 119 pregnancies (7.5%), a rate significantly lower than in the cohort's previous pregnancies (40%), he added. About one-third of the women in the study had been able to conceive before they were on metformin.

BY STEVE PERLSTEIN

Midwest Bureau

COPYRIGHT 2004 International Medical News Group
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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