Pregnancy in vasculitis.
Little is known about pregnancy in patients with vasculitis because of the nature of these diseases and the potential for infertility to occur from effective treatments. However, with the expanding armamentarium of therapeutic options that do not affect reproductive function, it is anticipated that more vasculitis patients will entertain the possibility of conception and consider the outcomes of pregnancy. Relevant issues include the effects of the vasculitis on pregnancy, the effects of the pregnancy on vasculitic disease activity, and the impact of medications used during the peripartum period. Although available data are limited and fall short in many regards, there is support for successful outcomes of pregnancy when conception occurs in disease remission. Maternal and fetal outcome is optimized by the establishment of a multidisciplinary team that can provide preconception evaluation and counseling followed by frequent monitoring throughout the pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Langford
Carol A
CA
Immunologic Diseases Section, Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. clangford@niaid.nih.gov
Kerr
Gail S
GS
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000628:therapy*; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000628:therapy*