Which pregnancy test do you perform on female patients taking isotretinoin?
More than 40% of dermatologists surveyed use the urine β-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) pregnancy test for female patients taking isotretinoin, while 30% use the serum B-hCG test; 28% indicated that they use both tests.
Expert Commentary
Provided by Shari R. Lipner, MD, PhD (New York, New York)
The iPLEDGE program was implemented in 2006 to avoid fetal exposure to isotretinoin and requires pregnancy testing (urine or serum) for females of childbearing potential taking isotretinoin. In a study of pregnancy-related adverse events associated with isotretinoin reported to the US Food and Drug Administration, 6740 total pregnancies were reported from 1997 to 2017. The rate peaked with 768 pregnancies in 2006 and then decreased. Because several hundred pregnancies in women taking isotretinoin have been reported yearly in the last 10 years, there is a clear need to have better systems in place and patient education to prevent fetal exposure to isotretinoin.
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