1707 – The use of aripiprazole during pregnancy: a case report

Abstract

There are only few reports on the use of aripiprazole during pregnancy. In our case, the patient was treated with aripiprazole throughout the pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby. A 31-year-old female was admitted to our hospital for the first time in 2005 as she returned from her postdoctoral studies abroad; prior to the hospitalization, psychotic symptoms had been present for a few months. She had auditory hallucinations and was expressing paranoid delusions. After the treatment with risperidone, the psychotic symptoms subsided. Because of extrapyramidal side effects risperidone was replaced with olanzapine. While on olanzapine she experienced cognitive side effects and was switched to 15 mg of aripiprazole. She achieved good remission and started working again. She got married and in 2009 she decided to stop her medication because she wanted to conceive. Without psychotropic treatment she became paranoid again after 7 months. She resumed with 15 mg of aripiprazole and achieved remission once again. In 2010, after discussing treatment options, she decided to conceive while still on aripiprazole. She got pregnant in June 2011 and in she delivered a healthy baby in February 2012 after a normal pregnancy. She didn’t breast feed. The 6-months followup showed that the baby was developing normally; the parents intend to have another child. In the presented case the benefits of effective and well tolerated antipsychotic treatment outweighed potential risks associated with prenatal exposure. This is the second case report of the use of aripiprazole during the whole pregnancy.