Neurologic Diseases in Pregnancy

Neurologic conditions commonly affect women during pregnancy. The severity of some chronic conditions, such as headaches, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, may be affected by pregnancy. Due to teratogenicity, some medications used prior to pregnancy should be avoided or used at a lower dose during pregnancy. The physiologic changes of pregnancy put women at risk for new neurologic conditions, including posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, venous sinus thrombosis, and restless legs syndrome. Compression neuropathies may arise during pregnancy or delivery. Increased experience with neuroimaging has provided reassurance that magnetic resonance imaging may be used safely during pregnancy. This review contains 7 figures, 7 tables, and 30 references Key Words: epilepsy, headache, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, neurology, neuropathy, pregnancy, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, stroke, venous sinus thrombosis