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Oral Fluconazole Exposure Linked to Spontaneous Abortion Risk

Exposure in pregnancy linked to significantly increased risk of spontaneous abortion

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Use of oral fluconazole in pregnancy is associated with increased risk of spontaneous abortion, according to a study published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Ditte Mølgaard-Nielsen, from the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues examined the correlation between oral fluconazole exposure during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth in a nationwide register-based cohort study in Denmark. Oral fluconazole-exposed pregnancies were compared with up to four unexposed pregnancies matched for propensity score, maternal age, calendar year, and gestational age, from a cohort of 1,405,663 pregnancies.

The researchers found that 147 of 3,315 women exposed to oral fluconazole from 7 through 22 weeks of gestation experienced a spontaneous abortion, compared with 563 of the 13,246 unexposed matched women. Fluconazole exposure correlated with a significantly increased risk of spontaneous abortion (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.23 to 1.77). Overall, 21 of the 5,382 women exposed to fluconazole from gestational week 7 to birth experienced a stillbirth, compared with 77 among 21,506 unexposed women (hazard ratio, 1.32; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.82 to 1.24).

“Until more data on the association are available, cautious prescribing of fluconazole in pregnancy may be advisable,” the authors write. “Although the risk of stillbirth was not significantly increased, this outcome should be investigated further.”

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