Highlights
- •Today, pregnancy is no longer considered impossible in women with lupus.
- •Although decreasing over time, fetal loss continues to be more frequent in SLE.
- •Severe flares are infrequent in women with inactive SLE and lupus nephritis.
- •Antiphospholipid antibodies increase maternal and fetal complications.
- •Preconception counseling and pregnancy planning improve pregnancy outcome.
Abstract
For many years pregnancy has been contraindicated in patients with SLE, particularly
when kidney involvement was present. Today, pregnancy is no longer considered impossible
in women with lupus. Yet, lupus pregnancies are still considered high-risk. The prognosis
has considerably improved for pregnant women but the fetal risk, although progressively
reduced, is still higher in pregnancies of patients with SLE than in pregnancies of
healthy women. Miscarriage, premature delivery, and preeclampsia, as well as heart
problems in the baby are the major complications that can occur.
In this paper we will review the outcome of pregnant women with SLE, the influence
of lupus on fetal outcome, the effects of pregnancy on lupus, and the management of
pregnant lupus patients based on our personal experience and the revision of the most
recent and significant papers on the subject.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 30, 2016
Accepted:
April 10,
2016
Received in revised form:
January 18,
2016
Received:
August 1,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
