No teratogenic effect of prenoxdiazine: a population-based case-control study.

The objective of this study was to investigate the human teratogenic potential of oral prenoxdiazine treatment during pregnancy. The analysis of cases with congenital abnormalities and their matched controls without congenital abnormalities was performed in the large population-based data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance of Congenital Abnormalities, 1980-1996. Of the 22,843 pregnant women who had offspring with congenital abnormalities, 158 (0.7%) were treated with prenoxdiazine. Of the 38,151 pregnant women who had babies without any defects in the study period (control group), 226 (0.6%) were treated with prenoxdiazine (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.8-1.3). The comparison of cases and their matched controls did not show a significantly higher rate of prenoxdiazine treatment during the second and third months of gestation in the total (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-2.2) or in any group of congenital abnormalities. Treatment with prenoxdiazine during pregnancy did not have any teratogenic risk to the fetus. Thus, prenoxdiazine treatment in pregnant women with an unproductive cough may be beneficial.