Improved pregnancy outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus: A retrospective study of pregnancies from a single centre in Denmark from 2010-2020 compared with the period 1990-2010

Objectives Over the past decades new international guidelines recommend that pregnant Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are monitored closely in a multi-professional team throughout pregnancy. The importance of low disease activity before pregnancy and continued treatment during pregnancy has been established. However, there is still a high risk of adverse pregnancy outcome (APO). The APO in a Danish SLE cohort was evaluated and compared with the results in a previous study cohort from the same centre and referral area. Methods This retrospective cohort study used the local patient registry to identify pregnancies in SLE patients followed at the Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, from January 2010 to October 2020. In total, 66 pregnancies were registered in 41 women. Data were compared with a previous retrospective study (1990-2010) from the same hospital. Results Adverse pregnancy outcome occurred in 65% of pregnancies. Forty-seven pregnancies resulted in a live birth, while 15 ended in miscarriages. Compared to the 1990-2010 cohort, a numerical reduction in preterm deliveries (7.58% vs. 17.9%) and emergent caesarean (6.1% vs. 15.5%) was observed, although not reaching statistical significance (p = .07 in both cases). Further, a higher average birth weight (3045 g vs. 2870 g) as well as a higher number of pregnancies and live births per year were observed. Gestational hypertension was significantly reduced from 23.8% to 13.6% (p = .05). Significantly more patients were treated with prednisolone (66.7% vs 35.7%, p = .0002), hydroxychloroquine (6% vs. 73.4%, p < .0001) and acetylsalicylic acid (39.3% vs. 73.1%, p = .0001) in 2010-2020 compared to the 1990-2010. Conclusion We observed significant improvements in the frequency of some APOs in the recent 2010-2020 cohort compared with the previous cohort followed from 1990 to 2010. However, even though a specialized multi-professional team closely follows SLE patients through their pregnancies, pregnancy in SLE still carries a high risk of APO.

Automated summary

Pregnant SLE patients require close monitoring and continued treatment during pregnancy to reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, although the risk remains high.