[Pregnancy in dermatomyositis and polymyositis]

AIM

To determine the incidence of pregnancies during the inflammatory myopathy (IM), its influence on this disease and the influence of IM on the pregnancy's outcome.

METHODS

From 1979 to 2007 we have collected retrospectively 67cases of IM (53 women and 14 men) in the department of internal medicine CHU Hedi Chaker of Sfax (Tunisia). Diagnosis criteria were those and Peter. We have included pregnancies occurring after diagnosis of DM or PM and cases of IM occurring during pregnancy or postpartum.

RESULTS

Five women (4DM and PM), average age 30.6 years (range 26 - 41 years) conducted 10 pregnancies (9.4%). The fertility rate is 2 pregnancies per patient. Nine pregnancies occurred after the diagnosis of myositis in 4 women. IM was inactive at conception in all this cas.No flare-up in IM has been noted during these pregnancies. The DM was revealed to the 10th day post-partum in one patient. Therapeutic interruption of pregnancy was needed in 3 cases. 4 pregnancies were completed without incident and resulted in the birth of healthy newborns. Foetal complications were observed in the other two pregnancies occurring in one patient who also presents an APS associated with DM. It was a foetal death in utero and premature delivery of a newborn who died in 3rd day after birth.

CONCLUSION

Pregnancy in the MI is rare. Its influence on the activity of the disease is variable, both during the pregnancy than postpartum. The foetal prognosis is good when the the disease is in remission. However foetal complications are important in case of active IM.

Clinical implications and prognostic significance of thrombocytopenia in Tunisian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the role of thrombocytopenia in terms of disease manifestations, disease activity and prognostic impact in a cohort of Tunisian systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Methods: The charts of 182 SLE patients diagnosed between 1996 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical manifestations, immunological profiles, disease activity, SLE relapses and survival rate at the time of follow-up were recorded. Results: Thrombocytopenia (<100,000/mm3) and severe thrombocytopenia (<20,000/mm3) was observed in 19.2% and 4.4%, respectively. Hemorrhagic manifestations were observed in 11 patients (31.4%). Thrombocytopenia was significantly associated with splenomegaly, renal disorders, neurologic manifestations, arterial thrombosis, leucopenia, low C3 level at SLE diagnosis, SLE relapses and infectious complications. Using multivariate logistic regression, thrombocytopenia was independently associated with splenomegaly (odds ratio [OR] = 9.36, p = 0.001), neurologic manifestations (OR = 4.6, p = 0.006) and renal disease (OR = 4.15, p = 0.02). By multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analyses, thrombocytopenia was associated with the occurrence of mortality after adjusting for variables known to influence it (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.79, p = 0.045). The cause of death was unrelated to hemorrhagic complications in all patients. Conclusion: Our results, concerning North-African SLE patients, confirm the findings of previous studies which suggest that thrombocytopenia correlates with more severe disease and has a negative impact on the survival of lupus patients.