Pregnancy Outcome in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A retrospective medical record review

Background aim: Pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are considered to be at higher risk in terms of fetal complications and adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the fetal outcomes in pregnant women with SLE. Methods: This retrospective medical record review study was conducted on 125 patients with the SLE referred to the Clinic and Department of Rheumatology of Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran from January 1997 to December 2017. The patients were classified according to the criteria of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics classification for the SLE. The data including age, personal characteristics, pregnancy outcome and data related to the patients’ discharge were extracted from the medical records. Results: There were 217 pregnancies in 125 patients with the SLE. The mean age of the subjects was 27.25±5.08 years at pregnancy time. Among all, 86 (36.9%) pregnancies were reported as full-term deliveries. The incidence of fetal wastage in the patients was observed as 49.3%. Abortion, prematurity, and stillbirth were seen in 114 (52.5%), 12 (5.5%), and 5 (2.3%) pregnancies, respectively. Neonatal death was noticed in 8 (3.6%) pregnancies and neonatal lupus was reported in 3 neonates (1.3% of the pregnancies). Conclusion: The risk of fetal complications and adverse outcomes were high in the patients with SLE. In geographical region under study, the subjects with the SLE continued to have high-risk pregnancies so that consultation with their doctors in preconception period and during pregnancy should be considered.