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Pregnancy

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Scleroderma

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Abstract

Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma, SSc) is a systemic connective tissue disease that occurs in women three to five times more frequently than men. Clinical manifestations include fibrosis of the skin and visceral organs, as well as a noninflammatory, progressive vasculopathy. With the mean age of onset of SSc symptoms in the early 40s, almost half of women with this illness have the potential of becoming pregnant after the onset of symptoms. Years ago, most women would have completed their pregnancies prior to this age, but more recently, women are frequently delaying pregnancy. Thus, there is an increased likelihood for a concurrent pregnancy in women who develop SSc early in their adult life. The interrelationships of SSc and pregnancy are important from both the effects of SSc on pregnancy and the effects pregnancy may have on underlying maternal SSc. This chapter reviews the literature relating to fertility, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes in women with SSc. The management of these high-risk pregnancies, the effects of pregnancy on SSc problems, and recommendations for managing medications in the pregnant SSc patient will be discussed. The use of this information in planned, well-supervised pregnancies should increase the likelihood of both the success of the pregnancy and the birth of a healthy infant and the stability of the mother.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Arthritis and Clinical Immunology, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Eliza F. Chakravarty MD, MS

  2. Department of Medicine, Rheumatology, Clinical Immunology, and Allergy, Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA

    Virginia Steen MD

Authors
  1. Eliza F. Chakravarty MD, MS
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  2. Virginia Steen MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eliza F. Chakravarty MD, MS .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    John Varga

  2. Division of Medicine, Department of Inflammation, Centre for Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Diseases, UCL Division of Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Christopher P. Denton

  3. Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Fredrick M. Wigley

  4. Service de Rhumatologie A, INSERMU1016, Universit. Paris Descartes, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France

    Yannick Allanore

  5. Department of Allergy and Rheumatology, Nippon Medical School, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Masataka Kuwana

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Chakravarty, E.F., Steen, V. (2017). Pregnancy. In: Varga, J., Denton, C., Wigley, F., Allanore, Y., Kuwana, M. (eds) Scleroderma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31407-5_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31407-5_39

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