Long-term outcome of children born from mothers with autoimmune diseases

Autoimmune diseases often affect young women and this may represent a problem in family planning. Pregnancies in these patients may carry several complications but nowadays the continued amelioration in treatment and management has greatly improved the pregnancy outcome. The main concern of these women obviously is the short- and long-term outcome of their children. A child born from a woman with autoimmune disease is potentially exposed in utero to maternal autoantibodies, cytokines, and drugs, and each item could impair his or her development. In addition, the maternal genetic heritage can favor autoimmunity. All these items could have a role, for example, in the development of autoimmune diseases (the same as the mother or different ones) or neurological disorders. Data in literature are controversial. This review will gather the available data possibly providing a useful tool for counseling future mothers.