SCLERODERMA AND PREGNANCY

Abstract

Pregnancy in systemic sclerosis may be uneventful, with both good maternal and fetal outcomes. Because scleroderma is a multisystem disease and complications do occur, however, careful antenatal evaluations, discussion of potential problems, and participation in a high-risk obstetric monitoring program is very important to optimize the best outcome. Because women with diffuse scleroderma are at greater risk for developing serious cardiopulmonary and renal problems early in the disease, they should be encouraged to delay pregnancy until the disease stabilizes. All patients who become pregnant during this high-risk time should be monitored extremely carefully. Although there are some suggestions that there are increases in infertility and miscarriages before disease onset, recent studies show that these issues probably do not have major impact for women with established scleroderma who plan to become pregnant. The high risk of premature and small infants may be minimized with specialized obstetric and neonatal care, however. Renal crisis in scleroderma is the only truly unique aspect of these pregnant, which, unlike blood pressure elevation in nonscleroderma pregnancies, must be treated aggressively with ACE inhibitors. Other pregnancy problems may not be unique to scleroderma, but because it is a chronic illness, any complication carries higher risks for both mother and child. Careful planning, close monitoring, and aggressive management should allow women with scleroderma to have a high likelihood of a successful pregnancy.