Paracetamol/acetaminophen during pregnancy induces prenatal ductus arteriosus closure

Paracetamol or acetaminophen (APAP) is commonly used as a first line treatment of pain and fever in pregnancy. In view of new evidence that reveals that APAP medication during pregnancy may be associated with impaired outcomes, safety of the use of APAP during pregnancy should be questioned. The causality between maternal APAP treatment and prenatal ductus arteriosus closure was qualified as certain by using the World Health Organization Uppsala Monitoring Center causality assessment system in a short series of 2 clinical cases. Because the fetal ductus arteriosus closure can lead to fetal loss or life-threatening cardiac failure in the newborn, the use of APAP, specifically after the sixth month of pregnancy, should be as limited as possible.

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