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Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background/aim: Pregnancy outcomes in women with systemic sclerosis (SSc) were evaluated in a nationwide cohort study. The impact of the disease on pregnancy outcomes was further assessed by comparing outcomes before and after the diagnosis of systemic sclerosis.

Materials and methods: A retrospective, nationwide, multicenter study was conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. A nationwide cohort was between 1 January 2018, and 31 October 2025, including female patients with at least two recorded ICD codes for SSc (M34 subcategories) at an interval of at least 1 month, who were identified as pregnant before (pre-SSc) or after SSc (post-SSc) based on ICD-10 codes (Z32, Z33, Z34, Z35). The initiation of data collection was set as 1 January 2018, because complete birth outcome records were available in the database from that date onward. Patients were categorized into pre-SSc and post-SSc groups according to the timing of pregnancy relative to the diagnosis of SSc.

Results: Among 43,663 patients diagnosed with SSc, data from a total of 4914 pregnancies/pregnancy outcomes were retrospectively examined. Abortion was more frequent in women with SSc (11.70% in the pre-SSc group [relative risk (RR) 1.64, 95% CI 1.33–2.03], and 10.64% in the post-SSc group [RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.11–1.96]). The risk of gestational diabetes was significantly increased in both groups, with a greater increase observed in the pre-SSc group (RR 6.66); similarly, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were more frequent in the pre-SSc group (RR 8.03). Puerperal complications were observed in 2.54% of the pre-SSc group and 3.12% (n = 22) of the post-SSc group (RR 1.85 and 2.28, respectively, compared with healthy controls).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that women with SSc are at increased risk; however, successful pregnancies are possible under appropriate multidisciplinary care.

Author ORCID Identifier

ALPERNURAY DOĞANCIYILMAZ ÇAKMAK: 0000-0003-1216-2667

SERDAR GÜVEN: 0000-0003-1965-9756

RIFAT BOZKUŞ: 0000-0003-1179-0653

SALİH BAŞER: 0000-0002-3448-6454

EKİN DOĞANCI: 0000-0003-3886-4093

NESLİHAN ÖZTÜRK: 0009-0006-7529-9299

ŞUAYİP BİRİNCİ: 0000-0001-8104-6198

NAİM ATA: 0000-0001-6947-2821

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6196

Keywords

outcomes, pregnancy, Robson's classifications, scleroderma, Systemic sclerosis

First Page

624

Last Page

631

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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