Bupropion is the generic name for Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR, and Wellbutrin XL (marketed for treatment of depression) as well as Zyban (a non-nicotine smoking cessation aid). The drugs are manufactured and sold by the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.
Wellbutrin is structurally and chemically unlike other antidepressants, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, and is intended for patients with major depressive disorder. Symptoms may include depression, mood swings, loss of interest in normal activities, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, fatigue and changes in body weight.
Among the most serous side effects of Wellbutrin and Zyban are heart defects found in infants of women who took the drugs during the first trimester of their pregnancies. These conditions include, among others, VSD’s/ASD’s, coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary stenosis, aortic stenosis, teralogy of fallot, and other left outflow heart defects.
Because depression is not uncommon in women of childbearing age, use of Wellbutrin has occurred in early stages of pregnancy. Likewise, because pregnant women who are encouraged to stop smoking, Zyban has been prescribed during early pregnancy.
A recent article published in American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology identified a positive association between early pregnancy use of Wellbutrin/Zyban and heart defects in the mother’s offspring. |
