Brief report: Metabolic acidosis in newborn infants following maternal use of acetazolamide during pregnancy

Abstract

 The information regarding fetal effects of acetazolamide use during pregnancy and lactation is sparse. We report the clinical and pharmacodynamic characteristics of maternal acetazolamide use and the timing of its effects on acid-base balance in three cases who presented with metabolic acidosis in the newborn period. We found that the infants’ clinical status soon after birth was inconsistently correlated with maternal drug dose and concentrations of medication in maternal serum. However, there was low transfer of the drug in breast milk and its use did not affect clinical symptomatology. We also present a review of literature on this subject to help consolidate our current knowledge on this topic.