Exposure to Thioguanine During 117 Pregnancies in Women With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Safety of thioguanine in pregnant patients with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] is sparsely recorded. This study was aimed to document the safety of thioguanine during pregnancy and birth.

In this multicentre case series, IBD patients treated with thioguanine during pregnancy were included. Data regarding disease and medication history, pregnancy course, obstetric complications, and neonatal outcomes were collected.

Data on 117 thioguanine-exposed pregnancies in 99 women were collected. Most [78%] had Crohn's disease and the mean age at delivery was 31 years. In 18 pregnancies [15%], IBD flared. Obstetric and infectious complications were seen in 15% [n = 17] and 7% [n = 8] of pregnancies, respectively. Ten pregnancies [8.5%] resulted in a first trimester miscarriage, one in a stillbirth at 22 weeks of gestational age and one in an induced abortion due to trisomy 21. In total, 109 neonates were born from 101 singleton pregnancies and four twin pregnancies. One child was born with a congenital abnormality [cleft palate]. In the singleton pregnancies, 10 children were born prematurely and 10 were born small for gestational age. Screening for myelosuppresion was performed in 16 neonates [14.7%]; two had anaemia in umbilical cord blood. All outcomes were comparable to either the general Dutch population or to data from three Dutch cohort studies on the use of conventional thiopurines in pregnant IBD patients.

In this large case series, the use of thioguanine during pregnancy is not associated in excess with adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes.