Haga H-J et al. (2005) Pregnancy outcome in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. A case-control study. J Rheumatol 32: 1734–1736

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune syndrome that results primarily in inflammation and destruction of the salivary and lacrimal glands, but also affects other organs such as the liver, kidney and pancreas. The impact of maternal pSS on pregnancy outcome is unclear, as studies addressing pregnancy outcome have produced conflicting results.

This single-center, case-controlled study aimed to clarify this issue. Of 63 consecutive women with pSS who were approached, 58 agreed to participate in the study; however, two of these had never been pregnant. Questionnaires including demographic and pregnancy-related questions were completed by all 58 patients and by 157 matched controls randomly selected from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Additional information about pregnancy outcome was obtained from the Medical Birth Registry for 36 patients, and for the 93 controls matched to those patients.

The average age of onset of pSS was 51.3 years; only four patients were diagnosed before their last pregnancy. No significant difference in pregnancy outcome was found between patients and controls, although two patients with ANTI-SSA AND ANTI-SSB ANTIBODIES had a child with congenital heart block. It is unknown, however, how many patients were demonstrated to have these antibodies, or whether the antibodies were present during pregnancy. The authors conclude that, before disease onset, pSS has no impact on pregnancy outcome, although they noted the potential association of anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies with congenital heart block.