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. 2023 Feb 15;62(4):633-636.
doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.9607-22. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

A Woman with Rheumatoid Arthritis Who Successfully Delivered a Healthy Child with Continuous Administration of Sarilumab Throughout Pregnancy

Satoshi Mizutani  1 , Yuki Okunishi  1 , Tatsuya Tamada  1 , Hiroyuki Tanaka  1 , Yuhei Ito  1 , Yoshiki Yamamoto  1 , Asa Kitamura  2 , Hiroaki Tanaka  2 , Tomoaki Ikeda  2 , Ayako Nakajima  1
Affiliations

A Woman with Rheumatoid Arthritis Who Successfully Delivered a Healthy Child with Continuous Administration of Sarilumab Throughout Pregnancy

Satoshi Mizutani et al. Intern Med. .

Abstract

We herein report a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who successfully delivered a healthy child with continuous administration of sarilumab throughout pregnancy. She delivered her first child, a healthy boy, following in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) while using etanercept and low-dose prednisolone. Disease activity persisted after delivery, so etanercept was switched to sarilumab. She became pregnant by IVF-ET again. Because RA was still active, sarilumab was continued during pregnancy. She delivered a healthy girl at the 38th week of gestation by Caesarean section. No abnormalities were detected at or within 6 months after birth. Sarilumab was safe and effective in this pregnant woman with RA.

Keywords: assisted reproductive technology; infertility; interleukin-6 inhibitor; pregnancy; rheumatoid arthritis; sarilumab.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).

Figures

Figure.
Figure.
Fetal development and disease activity of RA during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The pregnancy and puerperal course during sarilumab administration, showing disease activity, changes in estimated fetal weight, and changes in treatment content, is shown. The Japanese fetal growth curve shows the average estimated fetal weight ±2.0 standard deviations. SAR: sarilumab, TAC: tacrolimus, PSL: prednisone, CDAI: clinical disease activity index, SD: standard deviations
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