[Pregnancy and essential thrombocytemia]

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the management and outcome of pregnancy in women with essential thrombocytemia.

Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective study including all the pregnant women with essential thrombocytemia followed between January 2000 and January 2008 in a University Hospital (hôpital Jeanne-de-Flandre, Lille, France). We report our experience of 18 pregnancies in 13 women. The management and the complications of these pregnancies were reported.

Results: All the patients were treated with low dose aspirin during the pregnancy. We observed one intrauterine death, one premature delivery at 29 weeks of gestation and six maternal haemorrhages at delivery (33%).

Discussion and conclusion: It is essential to treat these patients with low dose aspirin as soon as the pregnancy begins. Aspirin will be continued in postpartum with anticoagulant treatment. This management appears to improve the obstetric outcome and decrease the thrombotic complications usually described. A national register seems to be necessary to evaluate the complications occurring during pregnancy and the optimum follow-up.