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Pregnancy in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease: a prospective case-control study

2011; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 20; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0961203311409610

1477-0962

G. Castellino, Roberta Capucci, Stella Bernardi, Melissa Padovan, S. Giacuzzo, Erica Pivato, Alfredo Patella, Francesco Trotta, Marcello Govoni,

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research

To assess the outcome of pregnancy and disease flare or differentiation into well-defined connective tissue disease (CTD), in a cohort of pregnant patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) and to compare these findings with those obtained from a population of non-pregnant women with UCTD.In total, 55 pregnancies (in 50 UCTD patients) were monitored from the positive pregnancy test until the sixth month after delivery. Likewise, during a 15-month timeframe, the incidence of flares or evolution into a major CTD was also recorded in a population of 53 non-pregnant women with UCTD. The Student t-test was applied for unpaired, continuous variables and chi-square was applied when percentages were compared.The mean duration of the successful pregnancies was 38.6 weeks (range 28-42) while the mean birth weight was 3190 g (range 1200-4600 g). Three pregnancies (5.4%) ended in miscarriage. The following obstetric complications were found: five premature membrane ruptures, two preeclampsia and two intra-uterine growth restrictions. In a total of 16 patients (32%) the disease flared during pregnancy or during the 6-month post-delivery period. Of these, five developed well-defined CTD after delivery. In the control population, six patients flared (11%) and, of these, only one developed a well-defined CTD.If pregnancy is properly treated, the outcome in UCTD patients is generally good while, considering disease activity, pregnancy appears to be a clear risk factor for flare up or evolution into well-defined CTD.