Arthritis and lupus raise pregnancy risks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women with lupus or rheumatoid
arthritis — two rheumatic diseases in which the immune system
mistakenly attacks tissues in the body — face an increased
risk of pregnancy complications, according to a new study.

Investigators Dr. Eliza F. Chakravarty of Stanford
University School of Medicine in Palo Alto and colleagues say
that “women with common rheumatic diseases appeared to have an
increased risk of adverse outcomes of pregnancy and should
undergo careful antenatal monitoring in order to minimize any
consequences.”

The research team looked at data from a 2002 nationwide
inpatient survey to compare rates of pregnancy complications
among women in the general population and those with lupus,
rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions.

As they report in the medical journal Arthritis &
Rheumatism, the researchers found that in the general
population high blood pressure problems occurred in 7.8 percent
of pregnancies, while 26.5 percent of deliveries were cesarean.

The corresponding rates for women with lupus were 23.2
percent and 39.4 percent.

Retarded growth of the baby in the womb occurred more than
three times more often in the group with lupus than among women
in general.

For women with rheumatoid arthritis, rates of hypertensive
complications, premature rupture of membranes, and fetal growth
retardation were slightly but significantly higher than normal.

The findings “suggest that relatively large numbers of
women with these rheumatic conditions do choose to bear
children and that the majority appear to have good pregnancy
outcomes,” Dr. Chakravarty and her colleagues write.

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, March 200607.