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

Abstract

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.