Pregnancy Category X 

Risk Summary 

Paroxetine Capsules are contraindicated in pregnant women because menopausal VMS does not occur during pregnancy and paroxetine can cause fetal harm. Epidemiological studies have shown that infants exposed to paroxetine in the first trimester of pregnancy may have an increased risk of cardiovascular malformations. Cardiac malformations are a common congenital abnormality. These data would suggest that the risk of a cardiac abnormality following paroxetine exposure in the first trimester may increase the risk from 1% to 2%. Exposure to SSRIs in late pregnancy may lead to an increased risk for neonatal complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding, and/or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). No teratogenicity was seen in reproductive development studies conducted in rats and rabbits. However, an increase in rat pup deaths was seen during the first 4 days of lactation when dosing occurred during the last trimester of gestation and continued throughout lactation, at a dose approximately equal to the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) for VMS (7.5 mg) on an mg/m2 basis. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to a fetus.

Human Data 

First-Trimester Pregnancy Exposure

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    Epidemiologic studies which include data from the Swedish National Registry, a retrospective cohort study using United Healthcare data and a meta-analysis of studies (1992-2008) have shown a less than 2-fold increased risk of cardiac malformations, primarily ventricular septal and atrial septal defects, with first-trimester paroxetine exposure. Two case-control studies using separate databases with > 9000 birth defect cases and > 4000 controls showed 7 and 6 paroxetine-exposed infants respectively, with right ventricular outflow tract obstructions, a 2-to 3-fold increased risk. An increase in overall congenital malformations with first-trimester paroxetine use was not observed in all studies.

Third-Trimester Pregnancy Exposure 

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    Neonates exposed to SSRIs late in the third trimester have developed complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, respiratory support, and tube feeding. Such complications can arise immediately upon delivery. Reported clinical findings have included respiratory distress, cyanosis, apnea, seizures, temperature instability, feeding difficulty, vomiting, hypoglycemia, hypotonia, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, tremor, jitteriness, irritability, and constant crying. These features are consistent with either a direct toxic effect of SSRIs or, possibly, a drug discontinuation syndrome. It should be noted that in some cases, the clinical picture is consistent with serotonin syndrome [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)].
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    Infants exposed to SSRIs in late pregnancy may have an increased risk for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). PPHN occurs in 1 - 2 per 1000 live births in the general population and is associated with substantial neonatal morbidity and mortality. In a retrospective case-control study of 377 women whose infants were born with PPHN and 836 women whose infants were born healthy, the risk for developing PPHN was approximately 6-fold higher for infants exposed to SSRIs after the 20th week of gestation compared to infants who had not been exposed to antidepressants during pregnancy. There is currently no corroborative evidence regarding the risk for PPHN following exposure to SSRIs in pregnancy; this is the first study that has investigated the potential risk. The study did not include enough cases with exposure to individual SSRIs to determine if all SSRIs posed similar levels of PPHN risk.

Animal Data 

Reproduction studies were performed at doses up to 50 mg/kg/day in rats and 6 mg/kg/day in rabbits administered during organogenesis. These doses are approximately 65 (rat) and 16 (rabbit) times the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) for VMS on an mg/m2 basis. There were no teratogenic effects. However, in rats, there was an increase in pup deaths during the first 4 days of lactation when dosing occurred during the last trimester of gestation and continued throughout lactation. This effect occurred at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day or approximately equal to the MRHD for VMS on an mg/m2 basis. The no-effect dose for rat pup mortality was not determined. The cause of these deaths is unknown.