Pregnancy outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the obstetric outcomes of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Materials and Methods: This retrospective study consisted of 39 women with RA. Patients were evaluated in terms of seropositivity, having disease >5 years or not and use of any medication. Results: Rate of preterm delivery and intrauterine growth retardation was 33.3% and 21.2%, respectively. Comparisons between seropositive and seronegative women did not show any significant difference. Having disease more or less than 5 years did not show any significant difference in terms of obstetric outcomes. Women with a coexisting disease had a similar rate of miscarriage rate compared to remainders (16.6% vs 14.8%). Women followed up without any medication has also higher rates of miscarriage despite lack of statistical significance. Conclusion: Pregnancies of women with RA must be considered as high risk due to increased rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery and intrauterine growth retardation.