Abstract
ObjectiveThe objective of this prospective “real world” study is to gain insight into the different “roads to conception” that women with MS take as part of the prospective Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Pregnancy Study (CANPREG-MS).MethodsParticipants are women with MS who are planning a pregnancy. Data cut-off for analyses was April 30, 2020.ResultsWe believe this is the first prospective National study of women with MS planning pregnancies.The data are for the first 44 women enrolled of whom 26 achieved pregnancy by cut-off date. Seven women used assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs); 6 stopped disease modifying therapy (DMT) against their neurologists’ recommendations; 6 had an interruption(s) in trying to conceive due to MS relapses, MRI-detected inflammation, or limited “windows of opportunity” between DMT courses.ConclusionThe study illustrates the roads that women take to conception, even if they are on the same therapy and have similar clinical expression of MS. Advice given by treating neurologists on washout periods show discrepancies. This paper highlights the real problem that there is no definitive, international consensus on managing these women due to the lack of “real world” data and thus the goal of CANPREG-MS is to provide such real world data.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) preferentially affects women with the clinical onset usually occurring during the reproductive years
Even with the relatively small numbers presented here, we found that 6 women discontinued their disease modifying therapy (DMT) while trying to conceive against the advice of their neurologists because of disease activity
The data presented here are preliminary, but they show how complex the road to conception can be for women with MS
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) preferentially affects women with the clinical onset usually occurring during the reproductive years. The current situation with respect to disease modifying therapies (DMTs)[1] and revised diagnostic criteria[2] have led to diagnosis earlier in the disease course. It appears that the number of women considering reproduction has increased in many geographic regions.[3] Family planning has become a major topic of interest to the MS community.[4,5]. There is a recognized need for population-based MSspecific pregnancy registries[6,7] and this is the goal of the “Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Pregnancy Study (CANPREG-MS)”.8
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
