Skip Navigation


Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on December 24, 2008
Rheumatology 2009 48(3):246-249; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken458
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
48/3/246    most recent
ken458v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mecacci, F.
Right arrow Articles by Matucci-Cerinic, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mecacci, F.
Right arrow Articles by Matucci-Cerinic, M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases
Right arrow Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Autoimmunity
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Pregnancy outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by anti-phospholipid antibodies

F. Mecacci1, B. Bianchi1, A. Pieralli1, B. Mangani1, A. Moretti1, R. Cioni1, L. Giorgi1, G. Mello1 and M. Matucci-Cerinic2

1Department of Gynaecology, Perinatology and Human Reproduction and 2Department of Biomedicine, Division of Rheumatology AOUC, Denothe Centre, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Correspondence to: A. Pieralli, Department of Gynaecology, Perinatology and Human Reproduction, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni, 85 50134-Firenze, Italy. E-mail: pierallannalisa{at}virgilio.it


  Abstract

Objective. Pregnant women affected by SLE are at high risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia (32–50%). This risk is particularly elevated if aPLs are dosable. The present study was planned to evaluate maternal–fetal outcomes of different groups of SLE pregnant patients characterized by diverse risk factors: patients affected by APS treated with a combination of low-dose aspirin (LDA) and low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH), nulliparous patients with dosable aPL treated by LMWH and SLE patients with no aPL administered no treatment during pregnancy.

Methods. A retrospective description of maternal and fetal outcomes was made in a total of 62 pregnancies presenting APS in 8 cases (12.9%), aPL in 20 (32.2%) and no aPL in 34 (54.8%).

Results. No statistically significant difference was found comparing fetal and maternal outcomes of the three groups despite differences in SLE activity: SLE aPL-positive pregnancies were associated with a higher incidence of nephritis and chronic hypertension than pregnancies treated for APS or not presenting with the added risk factor. The incidence of pre-eclampsia is 15% in aPL positive, 12.5% in APS and 14.7% in no aPL pregnancies, respectively.

Conclusions. LMWH is rather a possible option of prophylaxis for SLE aPL-positive pregnancies with potential maternal–fetal outcomes similar to aPL-negative patients or to standard treated APS.

KEY WORDS: Systemic lupus erythematosus, Activity, Anti-phospholipid antibodies, Anti-phospholipid syndrome, Pregnancy, Pregnancy outcome, Gestational hypertension, Pre-eclampsia, Low molecular weight, Heparin

Submitted 31 July 2008; revised version accepted 18 November 2008.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.