Pregnancy outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus: experience from a Caribbean center.

BACKGROUND: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune multi-system disorder frequently affecting black women of childbearing age. No published data exist on the obstetric outcomes in a Caribbean population. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed pregnancy outcomes in an Afro-Caribbean cohort of women with SLE at a tertiary university hospital. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed of all pregnant women with SLE prior to pregnancy from January 1990 to December 2021 at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), Jamaica. Maternal rheumatologic, obstetric, fetal/neonatal data were analyzed. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed. To determine if outcomes were associated with various factors, Spearman's rho was followed by logistic regression analysis to estimate unadjusted odds ratios with statistical significance at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 56 pregnancies in 47 women were identified with SLE. Live births were 87.5%, with 10.7% spontaneous miscarriages and no neonatal deaths. Prednisone was the most used drug in 67.9% of patients. 85% of women had an adverse outcome with an adverse fetal outcome occurring in 55% of cases. Prednisone was associated with an adverse fetal/neonatal outcome (Spearman's rho = 0.38; p = .004). CONCLUSION: In this first Caribbean series on SLE in pregnancy, reasonably successful pregnancy outcomes are achievable in Afro-Caribbean women managed in multidisciplinary centers.

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension as an initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

A 14-year-old girl with no known illness presented with a several week history of headaches and vomiting. The patient also reported having joint pain and swelling to the wrists and knees. She had no prior history of headaches, use of hormonal contraception or other medications, recent weight changes or family history of autoimmune disease. Blood pressure temperature, height and weight were normal. She was alert, there was alopecia, cervical lympadenopathy, symmetrical synovitis to the wrists, bilateral papilloedema and cranial nerve VI palsy. Laboratory investigations revealed a normochromic normocytic anaemia, leucopenia and lymphopenia. Serum chemistries were normal. CT of the brain was normal. Lumbar puncture revealed an opening pressure of greater than 300 mm H2O; cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis was normal. HIV antibodies were non-reactive. Despite treatment with acetazolamide she developed somnolence. Hence MR venography was performed which showed no evidence of cerebral vein thrombosis. Further investigations revealed a positive direct coombs test, positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) positive antidouble-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and false positive VDRL. Complement levels were reduced. Anti-Smith, anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulant were negative.