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Ulcerative colitis and granulocyte‐monocyte‐apheresis: Safety and efficacy of maintenance therapy during pregnancy
Author(s) -
D'Ovidio Valeria,
Meo Donatella,
Gozer Maria,
Bazuro Marco E.,
Vernia Piero
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of clinical apheresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.697
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1098-1101
pISSN - 0733-2459
DOI - 10.1002/jca.21349
Subject(s) - medicine , apheresis , maintenance therapy , ulcerative colitis , granulocyte , pregnancy , plateletpheresis , intensive care medicine , immunology , monocyte , surgery , platelet , chemotherapy , disease , biology , genetics
Inflammatory bowel disease characteristically affects young adults in their reproductive ages. Thus the medication used for the treatment of active disease should not compromise fertility and, also, should not have teratogenic effect on baby. A lot of data are available about effects of steroids, antibiotics, and mesalazine but no data are available about safety and efficacy of granulocyte‐monocyte‐apheresis (GMA) during pregnancy. In this case report, the 37 year‐old pregnant woman with chronically active and steroid dependent ulcerative colitis (UC), at risk of abortion, refused more aggressive pharmacological therapeutic options and gave the informed consent to GMA. To minimize symptoms and the risk of severe clinical relapse, a maintenance GMA treatment was performed throughout pregnancy. The course of pregnancy was uneventful with no side effects; the mother and the baby were all healthy and well at the delivery. J. Clin. Apheresis 30:55–57, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.