title: Psoriasis and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review of observational studies.
abstract: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder with significant physical and psychological sequelae. The majority of individuals experience disease onset in early adult life - for women this often occurs during their reproductive years. While some autoimmune diseases have been shown to affect pregnancy outcomes adversely, such a relationship has not been well studied in psoriasis. We searched PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane database for published articles examining psoriasis and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and included observational studies and clinical trials evaluating direct measures of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Four of the nine included articles reported a statistically significant increase in the risk of at least one outcome, including spontaneous abortion, caesarean delivery, low birth weight, macrosomia, large-for-gestational age, and a composite outcome consisting of both prematurity and low birth weight. However, these associations were not always consistent across studies. Overall, there was no clear evidence of increased adverse outcomes in pregnant women with psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: Schulich School of Medicine, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bobotsis
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF, Canada.
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Gulliver
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine (Obstetrics), Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF, Canada.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Monaghan
authors.affiliation: Lynde Dermatology (Private Practice), Markham, ON, Canada.|Division of Dermatology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lynde
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. flemingp@mun.ca.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fleming
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000150:complications*