Pregnancy outcome in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate pregnancy outcomes in women with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), and the course of disease during pregnancy was also assessed.

Methods: This case-control study included 60 pregnant women who delivered in our clinic between March 2007 and 2015. Twenty of them diagnosed with AS formed the study group and 40 women were chosen as the control group. These patients were chosen and reviewed by their hospital records and were evaluated retrospectively in terms of their clinical characteristics, pregnancy complications and perinatal outcomes. The Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), a new composite index to assess disease activity in AS, was used in the assessment of the patients.

Result: No adverse pregnancy outcome was noted in pregnant patients with AS. Mean age of AS patients was significantly higher than the controls (p = 0.037). The proportion of female fetuses was higher in pregnancies with AS compared to pregnant patients with healthy controls (p = 0.041). Fourteen (70%) of 20 patients displayed decrement in ASDAS during pregnancy. Course of AS was unaltered in 6 (30%) of 20 patients during pregnancy. Otherwise, the stage of the disease during pregnancy remained unchanged in 15 (75%) of cases as postpartum exacerbation was observed in 6 (30%). The reported symptoms of patients with AS during pregnancy were arthritis and uveitis.

Conclusions: Women with AS have a favorable pregnancy outcome, and pregnancy does not substantially aggravate disease activity or severity in these patients.

Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis; pregnancy; pregnancy outcome.