IH Registry Acetazolamide Use & Pregnancy Study
Is Diamox Safe For Pregnant Women with IH? IH Registry Study on Diamox Use & Pregnancy Published in NANOS Journal
April 2013— A multi-year, groundbreaking IH Registry study, “The use of acetazolamide during pregnancy in intracranial hypertension patients,” which examined the effects of acetazolamide (Diamox) use in pregnant women with IH and their children was recently published in the March 2013 issue of the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, the journal of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS). It is the largest study of its kind in the medical literature, to date.
Acetazolamide (Diamox) is one of the few treatment options for intracranial hypertension. Historically, many physicians have often been reluctant to use 
acetazolamide in pregnant women with IH before the 20th week because of reported teratogenic effects in rodents and rabbits. But the safety of acetazolamide use during human pregnancy has remained unclear.
The IH Registry, with Julie Falardeau, M.D. of Oregon Health & Science University, as the study’s lead investigator, looked at the experiences of 101 women with IH (a total of 158 pregnancies)—.the largest number ever for a study on this subject. Acetazolamide usage before 13 weeks of gestation was reported in 50 pregnancies. The risk of spontaneous abortion was similar to the control group and no major complication was identified in the offspring of women treated with acetazolamide.
Based upon this data, Dr. Falardeau and the IH Registry discovered that there was no convincing evidence for an adverse effect for acetazolamide use in human pregnancy, even when prescribed prior to the 13th week of gestation. Importantly, while the liberal use of acetazolamide should be avoided during pregnancy, the study found that acetazolamide should remain a treatment option for pregnant women when clinically indicated.
The IH Registry is currently involved in a second study with Dr. Falardeau, and continues its commitment to improve the lives of all people affected by IH through medical research. Congratulations all!
For more on information on the study, read the Pubmed abstract.