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SLE disease activity is low during pregnancy, but higher after 6 months postpartum
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Women with systemic lupus erythematosus demonstrated low or no disease activity at conception and during pregnancy, but increased activity was seen at 6 and 12 months postpartum, according to findings.
Researchers identified 237 women enrolled in RevNatus, a nationwide Norwegian registry of women with inflammatory rheumatic disease while planning pregnancy or while pregnant. Patients were seen in each trimester of pregnancy and at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months.
Researchers scored systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity using the lupus activity index in pregnancy (LAI-P) at visits during pregnancy and at 6 weeks postpartum. The modified lupus activity index was used at 6 months and 12 months after birth. An ordinal logistic mixed model was used to analyze the longitudinal course of disease activity.
Of the 237 women identified in the registry, 208 pregnancies had a known outcome. Of these, 12% resulted in pregnancy loss and 88% resulted in live birth. The final cohort consisted of 145 pregnancies in 128 women with SLE resulting in live birth. These patients were followed for a total of 757 visits.
Researchers found in 51.6% of the disease activity scores, the scores were equal to 0. The scores exceeded 0.5 in 6.3% of cases. In 51.4% of women, there was no disease activity in the first trimester as assessed at visit 1, with an LAI-P score of 0. A statistically significant variation in disease activity was observed between visits. The estimated probability of disease activity above 0 using the ordinal mixed-model analysis was highest at visits 5 and 6. The variation between visit 6 and visits 1 and 2 did not reach statistical significance.
not demonstrated during pregnancy of at 6 weeks postpartum, but at 6 and 12 months postpartum. Our study points to the importance of tight disease control in women with SLE not only before and during pregnancy, but also in the first year after birth.” - by Jennifer Byrne
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant disclosures.
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