Elective Termination of Pregnancy in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: Experience From Two Databases

To provide reference data regarding the frequency and safety of elective termination of pregnancy in women with autoimmune rheumatic diseases followed up in 2 referral databases.

Two large databases, one from an autoimmune rheumatic disease referral clinical practice with a known interest in pregnancy (the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease [BVC]), and one from an observational study of systemic lupus erythematosus- and antiphospholipid antibody-associated pregnancies (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus [PROMISSE]), were interrogated for histories of prior elective termination of pregnancy and complications related to incident pregnancy termination.

Of women who had had prior pregnancies, 21.7% of 1,307 in the BVC database and 25.3% of 297 in the PROMISSE database gave histories of 1-5 prior elective terminations of pregnancy; BVC patients reported no flares or hospitalizable complications due to pregnancy termination. Of 674 incident pregnancies, termination for fetal or maternal reasons was recommended for 15 (2%); of these, 2 fetuses died before the procedure was carried out and 1 woman declined termination and, though gravely ill, successfully delivered. She died of cardiomyopathy 3 years later.

Many patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease undergo elective termination of pregnancy; few report complications. In medically indicated termination of pregnancy, there are no adverse signals of unusual complications or disease flare.