Pregnancy in patients with pre-existing glomerular disease

Glomerular diseases in pregnancy: pragmatic recommendations for clinical management

Our understanding of the various aspects of pregnancy in women with kidney diseases has significantly improved in the last decades. Nevertheless, little is known about specific kidney diseases. Glomerular diseases are not only a frequent cause of chronic kidney disease in young women, but combine many challenges in pregnancy: immunologic diseases, hypertension, proteinuria, and kidney tissue damage. An international working group undertook the review of available current literature and elicited expert opinions on glomerular diseases in pregnancy with the aim to provide pragmatic information for nephrologists according to the present state-of-the-art knowledge. This work also highlights areas of clinical uncertainty and emphasizes the need for further collaborative studies to improve maternal and fetal health.

Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis in Pregnancy

BACKGROUND

Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) is an uncommon form of glomerulonephritis and it can be particularly difficult to predict outcomes and manage women with this disorder during pregnancy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The management of 3 successful pregnancies in women with MPGN from 1 center and previously described cases from the world literature are reviewed. This includes a number of large studies of pregnancy in women with underlying glomerular disease as well as small case series and individual reports. Courses of these pregnancies, maternal and fetal outcomes, and management, when described, were included in this review.

RESULTS

Some successful outcomes used antiplatelet therapy and plasmapheresis, but high-dose intravenous, followed by oral, corticosteroid therapy was used most frequently in patients with successful outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The data provided is meant as a guide for clinicians who provide care for women with MPGN who are considering pregnancy or women who present with this disorder while pregnant.

The outcome of pregnancy in women with lupus nephritis

We analysed the outcome of pregnancy in patients with pre-existing lupus nephritis, seen in a tertiary referral centre for nephrology. Fifty-three pregnancies in 25 patients who already had clinical and histological evidence of lupus nephritis were recorded between January 1970 and June 1989, and data were analysed retrospectively. All 53 pregnancies occurred in patients with more or less stable disease, while three pregnancies during which lupus first presented were excluded. Six pregnancies were ended by therapeutic abortions (four for social reasons), and in eight spontaneous abortion occurred. Thus, 39 deliveries occurred, 28 at 36 weeks or more, while 11 were delivered prematurely, of which one was a stillbirth. After allowance was made for therapeutic abortions, the fetal loss rate (9/47) was 19%. Seventeen Caesarian sections were performed in the 39 completed pregnancies (44%), 11 as emergencies. Although the overall fetal loss, incidence of premature births and Caesarian section rate were all higher than expected for a population of normal women, neither initial histology, treated hypertension, the presence of proteinuria or a nephrotic syndrome showed statistically significant relationships with the outcome of completed pregnancies. In no case was maternal renal function affected irreversibly, although proteinuria increased substantially during pregnancy in six patients, and creatinine clearance fell during pregnancy, also in six patients. No 'flares' in systemic disease were seen, but all patients save five were treated with a brief period of high-dose oral corticosteroids or intravenous methylprednisolone in the postpartum period. No case of neonatal lupus or congenital heart block was observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Specific controversies concerning the natural history of renal disease in pregnancy

Whether or not pregnancy adversely affects the natural course of underlying primary renal disease, and whether fetal outcome is influenced by the type of renal disease per se are controversial issues. We retrospectively analyzed the fetal and maternal outcome in 148 women with various, biopsy-proven histological types of primary chronic glomerulonephritis (GN), including IgA GN (52 patients), membranous GN ([MGN] 20 patients), membranoproliferative type 1 GN ([MPGN] 58 patients), focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis ([FSGS] 13 patients), and minimal change nephrotic syndrome ([MCNS] 22 patients), who were pregnant (with a total of 290 pregnancies) after the clinical onset of GN, and in 104 women with reflux nephropathy (with a total of 254 pregnancies). Fetal outcome was poor in the presence of uncontrolled hypertension, nephrotic range proteinuria, and/or impaired renal function at conception or early in gestation, whatever the type of renal disease. An accelerated, more rapid than expected, worsening of maternal renal function was observed in five GN patients of whom four (two IgA, two MPGN) had serum creatinine (Scr) levels greater than 160 mumol/L (1.8 mg/dL) early in gestation, and in five patients with reflux nephropathy whose Scr at conception ranged from 180 to 490 mumol/L (2.0 to 5.5 mg/dL).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Renal biopsy: indications and complications in pregnancy

A series of 111 renal biopsies performed in 104 pregnant women during the past 20 years at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne were reviewed. The indications for biopsy and the histological findings are detailed. The complication rate was very low (4.5%). It is concluded that the procedure is safe and that renal biopsy during pregnancy yields a definitive histological diagnosis in almost all cases. The indications for renal biopsy in pregnancy are discussed.