Maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant women with Takayasu’s arteritis: single center experience over ten years

Abstract

Background: This study aims to assess pregnant women's maternal and fetal outcomes with Takayasu’s arteritis (TA). Material and Methods: The study comprised ten pregnant women at the time of diagnosis or afterwards among the 50 patients diagnosed with TA between 2003 and 2021. Twenty-one pregnancy outcomes of 10 patients were obtained from hospital records and telephonic interviews. Two pregnancies were excluded due to timing before diagnosis. Results: Based on the angiographic classification, six patients had type 1, two had type 2b, and two had type 1+4 TA. 63.15% of pregnancies were planned, and the rheumatologist approved 42.10%. Live birth occurred in 16 (84.2%) of 19 pregnancies, three pregnancies (15.7%) resulted in abortion and two (10.5 %) of 19 pregnancies ended in neonatal death. In five (26.3%) of the 19 pregnancies, the disease was activated during pregnancy. Two neonatal deaths were from the two patients diagnosed with preeclampsia during pregnancy. Pre-existing hypertension and active disease are shared features of these two patients. After one year of follow-up, six pregnancies (31.5%) had active disease, and four (66.6%) had active disease both before and during pregnancy. While fetal data analysis revealed no congenital anomalies, four pregnancies resulted in low birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation (21.05%). Conclusions: The risk of developing preeclampsia and neonatal death should be considered, especially in TA patients with pre-existing hypertension who become pregnant during active disease.