[Recklinghausen's disease and vascular complications during pregnancy]

Von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis is an illness that quite often has visceral and neurological side-effects (the former in turn as its side-effects on the blood vessels). Although the patients' fertility is maintained the numbers of spontaneous abortions, of premature births and of perinatal mortality are raised. In fact one of the principal effects of this disease on pregnancy is on the blood vessels, giving rise to hypertension and to a drop in the circulation through the placenta, which in turn has well-known consequences. These are: intra-uterine growth retardation, chronic fetal distress and premature labour. As far as vascular aneurysms are concerned, they constitute an indication for termination of pregnancy. We here give a case history of the condition drawing attention yet once more to the need for a multidisciplinary care of the pregnancy in women who have neurofibromatosis.