PPHN - SSRI - Zoloft and Congenital Heart Defects -
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Birth Defects - Zoloft Side Effects - Zoloft Lawyers - Zoloft Birth Defects

Congenital Heart Defects
Transposition of the Great Arteries, Tetralogy of Fallot, Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD)

Congenital Heart Defects - Zoloft® Related Lawsuits

Studies have shown that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) are directly linked to birth defects. These defects include, but are not limited to Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension (PPHN), Congenital Heart Defects, such as Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) and Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)

Zoloft®, is an antidepressant that is generally prescribed to treat major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia/social anxiety disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration warned patients that taking Zoloft® or any other SSRI during pregnancy is directly linked to some Congenital Heart Defects. These birth defects were many times more likely to occur in women who have taken it during pregnancy. The most common defects are Heart Defects, Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension and Abdominal & Cranial birth defects. The heart defects were, in most cases, Atrial Septal Defects (ASD) and Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD), which are characterized by holes in the walls of the chambers of the heart. Heart-related birth defects range in severity from minor, which may resolve without treatment, to severe conditions, which usually require surgery.

Zoloft is used to treat symptoms such as

• depression

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Panic disorder

• Social phobia

• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

• Posttraumatic stress disorder

Birth Defects:

Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) in the heart the arteries are in swapped positions.

Transposition of the great vessels (TGV) is a congenital heart defect in which the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart, the aorta and pulmonary artery, are transposed and in opposite positions.

Tetralogy of Fallot: Tetralogy of Fallot results in low oxygenation of blood due to the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the left ventricle via the VSD and preferential flow of the mixed blood from both ventricles through the aorta because of the obstruction to flow through the pulmonary valve.

Craniosynostosis: GlaxoSmithKline included in the September, 2005 “Dear Doctor” letter that a study also found an association of exposure to any SSRI-antidepressant like Zoloft and giving birth to an infant with craniosynostosis (a congenital defect). Craniosynostosis occurs when the bones prematurely close during the first year of life, which causes an abnormally shaped skull causing Cranial Birth Defects.

Drug companies have tried to minimize the risk to fetuses of the use of these drugs during the first trimester of pregancy. However, recent studies have shown a significant increase in the occurrence of serious birth defects like PPHN, Spina Bifida, congenital heart defects or craniosynostosis as a result of using these drugs during the first trimester.

Neural Tube Defects: Neural tube defects (or NTDs) are birth defects of the brain and spinal cord.

Zoloft: additional possible birth defects...

• Congenital Heart Defects particularly:

• Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA)

• Transposition of the Great Vessels (TGV)

• Atrial Septal Defects (ASD)

• Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD)

• Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF)

• Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN);

• Abdominal congenital defects such as Omphalocele;

• Cranial congenital defects such as Craniosynostosis.

• Club Foot

• Neural Tube Defects
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