Pregnancy in Takayasu arteritis from the view of internal medicine

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of pregnancy on the morbid condition of Takayasu arteritis, we summarized the clinical data and pregnant courses of 18 patients with Takayasu arteritis and a total of 22 deliveries. We followed C-reactive protein (CRP) scores in 16 of 18 patients (20 of 22 deliveries) to ascertain the inflammatory condition inherent in Takayasu arteritis 1 year prior to, during, and 1 year after pregnancy. We also evaluated digital plethysmograms (pulse amplitude, pulse wave, crest time) to follow the hemodynamical condition of patients before, during, and after pregnancy. CRP scores improved significantly during pregnancy and 1 year after delivery. In the digital plethysmograms, pulse amplitude and wave also exhibited improvement after delivery, but crest time remained unchanged. This indicated that pregnancy is a state favorable to this disease. Some factors, such as the sex hormone progesterone, may induce this condition, but the details are still unknown. In conclusion, inflammatory activity and the hemodynamic state improve with pregnancy in patients with Takayasu arteritis. The physiologic aspects which cause this improvement should be maintained even after pregnancy.

A rare case of Takayasu's arteritis in pregnancy

“…retinopathy, arterial aneurysms, and aortic regurgitation. 11 Usual doses of dexamethasone or betamethasone for foetal lung maturity is recommended for cases with risk of preterm delivery, as we did in our case.…”

“…10 Even though, fertility is not adversely affected and pregnancy does not appear to exacerbate the disease, pregnancy should be considered in remission period. 11 Hypertensive complications such as preeclampsia and exacerbation of chronic hypertension, and fetal complications such a restriction of intrauterine growth, abortion, and fetal death have been reported in 60% to 90% of the cases. 11 All these complications could be noted in our patient.…”

“…11 Hypertensive complications such as preeclampsia and exacerbation of chronic hypertension, and fetal complications such a restriction of intrauterine growth, abortion, and fetal death have been reported in 60% to 90% of the cases. 11 All these complications could be noted in our patient. The high incidence of restricted uterine growth seems to be related to uncontrolled hypertension and aorta and iliac arteries involvement.…”

Takayasu’s arteritis in pregnancy: a rare case report from BJGMC and Sassoon Hospital Pune, Maharashtra, India

“…4 The disease can also be classified into stages according to the presence of major complications such as hypertension, retinopathy, aneurysms, and aortic insufficiency Onishi, who observed retinopathy in the absence of peripheral pulses. 5 Although more common in Oriental women it is seen worldwide. 6 The cause is unknown, but it seems to be related to autoimmunity, sex hormones (more common in young females), and genetics (demonstrated by the predisposition of the human leukocyte antigen -HLA BW52).…”

Systemic primary vasculitis and pregnancy

“…Однако не зарегистриро-вано ни одного случая материнской смертности, а благоприятный исход беременности имел место в 85% случаев. Частота спонтанного аборта составляет 8-16% [11,12,14], внутриутробной гибели плода -20% [11]. Отмечается высокий уровень преждевре-менных родов (15-20%), в некоторых случаях вну-триутробная задержка роста, низкая масса тела при рождении (10-25%), кесарево сечение более чем 35% случаев.…”