Biyolojik Ajan Kullanan İnflamatuvar Artrit Hastalarında Gebelik Süreci ve Sonuçları

Abstract

Uyaroglu, Oguz Abdullah, Hacettepe University Department of Internal Medicine, Thesis in Internal Medicine, Ankara, 2017. Pregnancy process and outcomes in patients with inflammatory arthritis using biological agents. The aim of this study is to evaluate the pregnancy process and outcomes of the female patients and male patients’ wifes who had gotten pregnant after the start of biological agents. The study was a single-center cross-sectional study, and the study group was enrolled in the Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Rheumatology Biological Agent Database (HÜR-BİO). A questionnaire was conducted to 373 patients whether they or their wifes had gotten pregnant after the start of biological agents. 79 pregnancy were recorded. 34 (43%) were female and 45 (57%) were the wives of male patients. The pregnancy processes of these patients were evaluated. 24 (30.4%) pregnancies of 79 were not planned. The rate was significantly higher in female patients (p = 0.021). 43 (54.4%) out of 79 patients did not share their pregnancy plans with their physicians.The rate was higher in male patients. 28 (35.4%) of all patients stated that their disease was active during pre-conceptional period. 13 out of patients (16.5%) discontinued the biological agent treatment before pregnancy and 14 patients (17.7%) had stopped their biological agent treatment after conception. 52 patients (65.8%) continued to be treated with biological agents. A total of 69 patients were found to have biological agent exposure. 42 (60.9%) were in the wives of male patients while 27 (39.1%) were in female patients. Spontan abortion rate was 22.2% (6 pregnancies) and curretage abortion rate was 22.2% (6 pregnancies) in female patients who had biological agent exposure. These ratios were found higher than the literature. Curettage and spontan abortion rates were significantly elevated in women especially who continued to be treated with biological agents after learning that they had got pregnant. This situation raises doubts about the continuation of the medication during pregnancy. However, these high rates are mainly due to the high number of curettage abortion. The rate of spontan abortion was found as 7.3% in the wives of male patients with biological agent exposure and the rate of low birth weigh was 11.1% in the newborns. When evaluated together with the literature, the use of biological agents during pregnancy in male patients can be regarded as safe. Our study is one of the most extensive studies which provides the male number of patients and the pregnancy outcomes related to men in the literature. 15% of pregnancies with biological agent exposure and resulting in live births resulted in preterm pregnancy and 7.9% were found at low birth weight. This information was in accordance with the literature. No significant congenital malformation or disease increase was observed in neonates following exposure to biological agents. During or after pregnancy it was observed that the use of biological drugs did not have any effect on the breast milk. When evaluated together with the literature, the use of biological agents seems to be safe during breastfeeding. Key words: Biologic agents, Inflammatory arthritis, Pregnancy