Abstract

Background: During pregnancy, SLE-patients have an increased risk of complications: development of new-onset or reactivation of lupus nephritis, development of pre-eclampsia and/or damage to the fetus. To reduce this risk and start a “safe” pregnancy, preconception counselling is proposed that assesses the disease activity score and the coexistence of an immunological quiescent state for at least 6 months. Materials and Methods: Two groups of 10 women each were studied: Group A had a pregnancy without complications and Group B with complications. The 2 groups were comparable for age, disease duration, disease activity free interval and disease activity score at conception. Results: The two groups, while reporting differences in complications during gestation and/or fatal outcome, did not show differences in the various characteristics studied at the time of conception. Conclusions: Based on the current knowledge, in real life during a preconception evaluation it is not possible to guarantee to the future pregnant SLE-women the absence of maternal and/or fatal complications.