Women With Psoriasis: Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes

A study published in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine found that women with psoriasis and their newborns were highly prone to adverse outcomes of pregnancy.

Researchers aimed to evaluate associations between psoriasis and pregnancy, including maternal and newborn outcomes, because the literature regarding psoriasis is limited and contradictory regarding pregnancy.

They conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study by using the 1999-2015 United States' Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Delivery admissions to women with or without psoriasis, maternal outcomes, and fetal outcomes were identified by using codes from International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. Additionally, researchers performed multivariate logistic regression models for estimating the effects of psoriasis on maternal and newborn outcomes while adjusting for baseline characteristics.

Of the 13,792,544 pregnancy admissions in US hospitals from 1999 to 2015, there were 3737 women with psoriasis in the cohort. This was a period of prevalence 27.1 cases per 100,000 pregnant women. The results of the study indicated that psoriasis had associations with preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, myocardial infarction, chorioamnionitis, delivery by cesarean section, anemia, and blood transfusions. Newborns also showed higher risk of being born preterm or with congenital anomalies or experiencing intrauterine growth restriction.

The authors concluded that “it would be prudent for these women to be followed closely during pregnancy by their obstetrical caregiver and dermatologist. Further investigation is warranted regarding the management of psoriasis during pregnancy.”

Reference
Krim D, Gomolin A, Czuzoj-Shulman N, Abenhaim HA. Maternal and neonatal outcomes of births to women with psoriasis: a population-based cohort of 13 million births. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. Published online December 27, 2021. doi:10.1080/14767058.2021.2020238