Pharmacokinetics of oxcarbazepine and 10-hydroxy-carbazepine in the newborn child of an oxcarbazepine-treated mother

Gaschromatography--mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to determine plasma levels of oxcarbazepine (OCB) and its main metabolite in a newborn girl and her OCB-treated mother during the first five post partum days. At delivery the maternal and neonatal plasma concentrations were in the same range, indicating considerable placental transfer of both substances. In spite of ingestion of both substances via breast milk, there was no accumulation in the baby. On the fifth post partum day OCB and 10-hydroxy-carbazepine (10-OH-CB) levels in plasma in the newborn were only 12 and 7%, respectively, of the values found on the first day after delivery.