17 Jul Pregnancy Outcomes in Lupus Patients Have Improved
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Mehta
Bella Mehta, MBBS, MS
Assistant Attending Physician, Hospital for Special Surgery
Instructor, Weill Cornell Medical College
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: For women with lupus, pregnancy has long been considered high-risk and associated with both medical and obstetric complications. In the 1960s and 1970s, pregnancy was thought to be contraindicated in lupus patients. Beginning in the 1980s, and especially in the 1990s, many studies identified specific risk factors for pregnancy complications and proposed best-practice management guidelines. We wished to see whether these advances improved pregnancy outcomes for lupus patients.
Our study showed a decline in maternal mortality and other outcomes in lupus patients. The improvement in pregnancy outcomes was observed more so in lupus patients than those without lupus.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: I think the biggest take home point is that more lupus patients are attempting pregnancies in the past two decades and that they are successfully delivering.
Also, the risks of poor outcomes are decreasing over time with new medications, guidelines etc.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: The study shows that pregnancy outcomes in lupus patients have improved, however they are still worse than non-lupus patients. Thus, further research needs to be done to improve outcomes, and put into guidelines for diagnosis and management like the American College of Rheumatology [ACR] Reproductive Health Guidelines.
I have no disclosures.
Citation:
Trends in Maternal and Fetal Outcomes Among Pregnant Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the United States: A Cross-sectional Analysis
Bella Mehta, MBBS, MS *; Yiming Luo, MD *; Jiehui Xu, MPH; Lisa Sammaritano, MD; Jane Salmon, MD; Michael Lockshin, MD; Susan Goodman, MD; Said Ibrahim, MD, MPH
Ann Intern Med. 2019. DOI: 10.7326/M19-0120
2019 American College of Physicians
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Last Updated on July 17, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD