SCAN-AED maps how the use of antiepileptic drugs and folic acid supplements during pregnancy can affect the long-term health of both mother and child.
SCAN-AED is a Nordic collaboration initiated to investigate which treatment with epilepsy drugs (antiepileptics) and folic acid is safest and most effective during pregnancy. The study is funded by NordForsk, and is based on linking population registers in five Nordic countries: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland.
The project investigates the risk of both physical and neuropsychiatric diseases in children exposed to epilepsy drugs in utero – either individually or in combination – and how high-dose folic acid may affect this risk. In addition, the mother's health is studied both during and after pregnancy.
SCAN-AED is led in collaboration between:
The project also involves:
Untreated epilepsy during pregnancy poses a risk to both mother and child. Many women with epilepsy continue to take medication throughout pregnancy. Unfortunately, several antiepileptic drugs are associated with an increased risk of complications, congenital malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders in the child. Therefore, it is often recommended that women with epilepsy take up to ten times the usual dose of folic acid.
However, there is a lack of sufficient knowledge about how effective and safe this strategy is. Previous international studies have had too low statistical power to provide reliable answers. SCAN-AED aims to fill these knowledge gaps through a unique dataset from over 20 million inhabitants and more than 120,000 people with epilepsy in the Nordic registries.
By linking data from medical birth registries, prescription registers, patient registries and socioeconomic data, the project can control for important sources of error and provide precise estimates of risk for both mother and child.
In May 2021, SCAN-AED and NorPreSS organized the digital conference International Conference on Antiepileptic Drugs in Pregnancy and Risk for Mother and Child. Around 200 participants from 17 countries attended, including researchers, clinicians, pharmacologists and pharmacovigilance experts. The topics ranged from teratogenesis and neurodevelopment to folate and maternal health. The conference was very well received in the follow-up survey.
In May 2021, SCAN-AED and NorPreSS organized the international conference "Antiepileptics in pregnancy and risk to mother and child". The conference was held digitally and brought together around 200 participants from 17 different countries. The participants had backgrounds as researchers, clinicians, pharmacologists, experts in pharmacovigilance and several other fields.
The program included contributions from patient organizations, young researchers, and leading researchers and clinicians in the field. The topics covered in the various sessions ranged from basic principles of teratogenicity, methodological aspects and pharmacology to neurodevelopment, maternal health issues and folic acid supplementation. There were also professional presentations from SCAN-AED, NorPreSS and partners.
The conference received very good feedback in the subsequent evaluation.
SCAN-AED is funded by NordForsk . The project members have also received support from the University of Bergen, Helse Vest, Haukeland University Hospital, Norwegian Epilepsy Association, Torbjørg Hauge's grant, Forsberg and Aulie's grant, Karolinska Institutet, Aarhus University Hospital, Oslo University Hospital and the Finnish Institute of Public Health.
Source: University of Bergen (UiB) – Original project with information about project members and relevant publications: SCAN-AED – uib.no