Paula E. Voinescu, MD, PhD

“We don't quite know why this is the case that women with frontal lobe epilepsy experienced are more likely to experience a worsening of their seizure frequency during pregnancy, so I think these women need to be more carefully monitored clinically during pregnancy.”

At the American Epilepsy Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, Paula E. Voinescu, MD, PhD, junior faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, spoke about a new study where Voinescu and colleagues sought to assess whether increased seizure frequency during pregnancy and postpartum period is more likely in women with either focal or generalized epilepsy and if it differs by the localization of seizures.

The results of the study found that women with focal epilepsy have higher rates of seizure worsening during pregnancy compared to women with generalized epilepsy, and women with frontal lobe epilepsy have particularly elevated rates of seizure worsening during pregnancy and postpartum.

To dive deeper into the study and its results, 

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The attending neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital spoke about how seizure frequency during pregnancy and postpartum varies by epilepsy type.

Paula E. Voinescu, MD, PhD

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Paula E. Voinescu, MD, PhD: Seizure Frequency in Pregnancy, Postpartum