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Farlutal Pregnancy |
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In the Collaborative Perinatal Project involving 50,282 pregnancies, 866 first trimester exposures to progestational agents were documented. Of these, there were 130 exposures to Farlutal. The incidence of cardiovascular defects was significantly increased, with a standardized relative risk of 1.8. While not statistically significant, data also suggested an increased risk of hypospadias among offspring of women treated with progestational agents in the first trimester. In the Michigan Medicaid Birth Defects Study involving 229,101 pregnancies from 1985 to 1992, there were 327 first trimester exposures to Farlutal (written communication, Franz Rosa, MD, Food and Drug Administration, 1994). Overall, 15 cases of birth defects were observed (13 cases expected). Seven cases of cardiovascular defects occurred compared with 3 cases expected, representing a significant increase in the incidence of cardiovascular defects. Of interest, in all seven cases, the indication for maternal treatment with Farlutal was amenorrhea and not threatened spontaneous abortion. No cases of hypospadias occurred. Other studies have failed to find an association between first trimester use of progestational agents and congenital anomalies, including cardiovascular and genitourinary defects. In addition, follow-up studies have concluded that use of Farlutal during pregnancy does not affect the long-term growth and development of children. There are data which suggest an increase in the frequency of low birth weight among infants of accidental pregnancies during contraception with intramuscular Farlutal.
Farlutal has been assigned to pregnancy category X by the FDA.. Animal studies have revealed evidence of teratogenicity. There are no controlled data in human pregnancy. Farlutal is considered contraindicated during pregnancy.
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Farlutal is excreted into breast milk. Lactation does not appear to be adversely affected by contraceptive use of Farlutal. Farlutal is considered compatible with breast-feeding by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The excretion of Farlutal into breast milk was evaluated in 10 women who received Farlutal 150 mg intramuscularly for contraception. Mean Farlutal milk concentrations ranged from approximately 8 ng/mL at one week to approximately 0.5 ng/mL at 12 weeks after the injection. The milk to maternal serum concentration ratio ranged from 0.12 to 2.60 (mean 0.88). Contraceptive use of Farlutal does not adversely affect the content or volume of breast milk. In addition, progestin use during lactation may promote longer duration of lactation. Long-term follow-up studies of up to eight years duration have failed to document adverse development effects due to exposure to Farlutal in breast milk.
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Information checked by Dr. Sachin Kumar, MD Pharmacology
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