Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a major cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, perinatal deaths, preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction. Differential diagnosis with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) nephropathy and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis during pregnancy is difficult, if not sometimes impossible, as all three diseases may present hypertension and proteinuria. Improvement in diagnosis of PE has also offered new paths for differential diagnosis with other conditions and the analysis of angiogenic (vascular endothelial growth factor, placental growth factor) and antiangiogenic factors (serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1, soluble endoglin) is promising for differentiation between PE, APS nephropathy and SLE nephritis. This article reviews published studies about those factors in non-pregnant and pregnant patients with APS and SLE, comparing with patterns described in PE.
This study analyzed maternal and fetal outcomes of pregnancies of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus patients followed in a reference unit. This retrospective cohort study included 26 pregnancies of patients seen between 2011 and 2015 included with history and/or active neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus among 135 pregnancies. Three patients had active neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus at conception, but only one remained with neurological activity during gestation, characteristically related to the inadvertent suspension of medications. Twenty six percent of the newborns were small for gestational age and 40% of live births were premature, with no neonatal death or early complications of prematurity. Preeclampsia was diagnosed in nine pregnancies, with two cases of early severe form that resulted in intrauterine fetal death. Patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus had more prematurity and preeclampsia compared to patients without neuropsychiatric disease. However, when concomitant lupus nephritis was excluded, the gestational results of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus patients were more favorable.
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