Outcome of pregnancy in Italian patients with primary Sjögren syndrome

Objective: To investigate pregnancy and fetal outcomes in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS).

Methods: An obstetric history of 36 women with established diagnosis of pSS at pregnancy was obtained from a multicenter cohort of 1075 patients. In a subgroup case-control analysis, 12 deliveries in patients with pSS were compared with 96 control deliveries.

Results: Thirty-six women (31 with anti-SSA/Ro and/or anti-SSB/La antibodies) with an established diagnosis of pSS had 45 pregnancies with the delivery of 40 newborns. Two miscarriages, 2 fetal deaths, and 1 induced abortion were recorded. Mean age at the first pregnancy was 33.9 years; mean number of pregnancies was 1.25; 18/40 (45%) cesarean births were delivered; mean pregnancy length was 38.5 weeks (range 32-43), with 6 preterm deliveries. The mean Apgar score at 5 min was 8.9, mean birthweight was 2920 g (range 826-4060 g). Congenital heart block (CHB) occurred in 2/40 (5%) newborns. The reported rate of breastfeeding for at least 1 month was 60.5%. In 4/40 pregnancies (10%) a flare of disease activity was observed within a year from delivery. In the case-control subgroup analysis, 12 deliveries were compared with 96 controls and no significant differences were found.

Conclusion: Patients with pSS can have successful pregnancies, which might be followed by a mild relapse. CHB was the only cause of death for offspring of mothers with pSS.