Increased risk of pregnancy complications in patients with essential thrombocythemia carrying the JAK2 (617V>F) mutation

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) may occur in women of childbearing age. To investigate the risk of pregnancy complications, we studied 103 pregnancies that occurred in 62 women with ET. The 2-tailed Fisher exact test showed that pregnancy outcome was independent from that of a previous pregnancy. The rate of live birth was 64%, and 51% of pregnancies were uneventful. Maternal complications occurred in 9%, while fetal complications occurred in 40% of pregnancies. The Mantel-Haenszel method showed that fetal loss in women with ET was 3.4-fold higher (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3-3.9; P <.001) than in the general population. Half of the women studied carried the JAK2(617V > F) mutation, and a multivariate logistic regression model identified this mutation as an independent predictor of pregnancy complications (P =.01). Neither the platelet count nor the leukocyte count was a risk factor. JAK2 (617V > F)positive patients had an odds ratio of 2.02 (95% CI: 1.1 - 3.8) of developing complications in comparison with JAK2 (617V > F)- negative patients. Aspirin did not prevent complication in JAK2 (617V > F)-positive patients and appeared to worsen outcome in JAK2 (617V > F)-negative patients. A relationship was found between JAK2 (617V > F) and fetal loss (P =.05). This study indicates that patients carrying the JAK2 (617V > F) mutation have higher risk of developing pregnancy complications.