By Cara Murez
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Pregnant women with lupus face potential complications, including an increased risk of preterm birth, according to a new U.S. study.
A 10-year audit of hospital records found that these women have more than double the risk of delivering a premature or growth-restricted baby. The audit also found that blood transfusions are nearly four times more likely for moms-to-be with lupus, also known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
In addition, they are 15 times more likely to develop kidney failure during childbirth than mothers who do not have lupus, according to the report published online April 25 in open DMR.
“Despite extensive efforts over the years, a substantial risk of maternal and fetal complications remains,” the researchers noted in a journal news release.
While maternal and fetal deaths in women with lupus fell over the years, it wasn’t clear if rates of severe disease were also lower. The researchers, including Dr. Bella Mehta of the Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, used data from 2008 to 2017 from the National Inpatient Sample to study the problem.
The sample contains information on more than 7 million hospitalizations in the US each year.
About 90% of Americans with lupus are women. The research team estimated that more than 51,000 pregnant women with lupus were admitted to the hospital to deliver their babies during the study period.
Women with lupus tended to be older than women without the autoimmune disease, around 30 years old compared with 28. They were also more likely to be black and to have Medicare, the publicly funded insurance program.
Significantly more women with lupus had coexisting conditions, the study authors noted.
Pregnant women with lupus were three times more likely to have a serious pregnancy-related complication called eclampsia, or abnormal blood clotting in the body’s blood vessels. They were also 11 times more likely to have peripheral heart and vascular disorders, and more likely to have general medical problems, the findings showed.
Their babies were more likely to be growth restricted (8% compared to 3% for women without lupus) and to be born prematurely (about 15% compared to 7%).
“Our study demonstrates that fetal morbidity and severe maternal morbidity occur at a higher rate in patients with SLE compared to those without it. This quantitative work can help inform and advise SLE patients during pregnancy and planning,” the study team concluded.
More information
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about lupus.
FOUNTAIN: open rmd, press release, April 25, 2023
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