Rheumatic Diseases and Their Treatment with Anti-Rheumatic Drugs during Pregnancy
Pınar BORMAN 1 ,Oya ÖZDEMİR 1
1 Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
DOI :
10.5152/tftrd.2015.90688
Many rheumatic diseases affect women of childbearing age. It is
well known that during pregnancy, some patients with inflammatory
arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis go into remission, whereas in
others, pregnancy aggravates disease activity. Unfortunately, the
flares of rheumatic diseases during pregnancy may result in fetal loss,
intrauterine growth retardation, and premature delivery. Furthermore,
during pregnancy, anti-rheumatic drugs used to control disease activity
may lead to fetal complications. In this review, the effects of pregnancy
on the disease and the effects of disease on the fetus are discussed
first. The effects of biological and non-biological disease-modifying
anti-rheumatic drugs on fertility, pregnancy, and lactation are then
summarized. Physicians dealing with rheumatic diseases need to be
aware of the potential adverse effects of these medications and discuss
the risks and benefits of drugs during pregnancy and lactation with
their patients in detail.
Keywords :
Rheumatic diseases, medication, pregnancy, lactation
