Bicuspid aortic valve and severe aortic stenosis in a newborn exposed to carbamazapine during pregnancy

The use of antiepileptic drugs increases the risk of major congenital malformations during pregnancy. Here, we report an infant who had a history of in-utero carbamazepine exposure and who was born with a cardiac malformation. The infant was born at 39 weeks of gestation vaginally to an epileptic mother who had been treated with carbamazepine throughout her pregnancy. He was referred due to cardiac murmur in the second week of his life. The mother had not received folic acid supplementation. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed bicuspid aortic valve, mild aortic stenosis, patent ductus arteriosus, patent foramen ovale and the renal ultrasound revealed mild left hydronephrosis. Follow-up echocardiography performed 14 weeks later showed increased severity of aortic stenosis and percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloplasty was performed. To our knowledge, there is only one case report in the literature mentioning the association of a bicuspid aortic valve and aortic stenosis with oxcarbazepine exposure, which is a structural derivative of carbamazepine. However, there are no reports for association with carbamazepine itself. Bicuspid aorta and aortic stenosis may be among the cardiac malformations that result from the teratogenic effect of carbamazepine.