Document Type : Special Articles
Authors
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic autoimmune demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) which preferentially involves young women in early child bearing age. Opposite to traditional view emphasized on discouraging female patients from enduring pregnancy, recent investigations showed that pregnancy-related physiological alterations, especially during the third trimester, reduce the annual relapse rate of multiple sclerosis up to 80% which is comparable with conventional disease modifying drugs. Nowadays, expert's viewpoint is that female patients should not be discouraged from having children. Nonetheless, who and when should be allowed to endure gestational period is a complex decision which should be taken for every patient individually. It necessitates that neurologists be aware of updated information regarding pregnancy-related fetal and maternal considerations in patients with MS. In this brief review, it was tried to discuss this topic according to available data and guideline-based recommendations.
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