Association between catamenial epilepsy and seizure frequency during pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To compare seizure outcomes during pregnancy in women with epilepsy (WWE) by history of catamenial patterns. BACKGROUND: Catamenial patterns are defined as increased seizure frequency during certain phases of the menstrual cycle (perimenstrual, peri-ovulatory, or luteal in anovulatory cycles). Animal studies suggest seizure improvement occurs with higher progesterone and allopregnanolone concentrations and lower estrogen concentrations. Prior human studies also reported that WWE with catamenial patterns were more likely to have improved seizure frequency during pregnancy, presumably due to higher sensitivity to fluctuations in sex steroid hormones. DESIGN/METHODS: Women with epilepsy (WWE), ages 18-40yo, were enrolled in a longitudinal, prospective cohort study at time of attempting conception to compare fertility outcomes to healthy controls. Once enrolled, WWE used a daily diary app for menstrual and seizure tracking from preconception through delivery. For this secondary analysis, participants were excluded if they chose to discontinue the study, if they did not become pregnant, were seizure free preconception, if their diary data was inadequate (defined as