key: cord-0832274-x8ibkz0o
authors: Scioscia, Marco; Praino, Emanuela; Scioscia, Crescenzio
title: Rheumatic diseases during pregnancy and SARS‐CoV‐2: An appeal for medication adherence
date: 2020-06-17
journal: Int J Gynaecol Obstet
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.13255
sha: 13a36d260653076ec136d9df364c3902abc3342d
doc_id: 832274
cord_uid: x8ibkz0o

The novel SARS‐CoV‐2 outbreak has raised concerns among patients with rheumatic diseases receiving chronic immunosuppressive therapy. Patient concerns regarding immune response to the virus have fueled non‐adherence behavior.

opinion for pregnant and non-pregnant RDs subjects, clinicians should promote adherence to therapy until specififc studies are reported. 1 In fact, in cases of discontinuation of therapy during pregnancy in RDs patients, a flare of disease can prompt an increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines that may theoretically worsen maternal and pregnancy outcomes in case of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, some antirheumatic drugs were proposed as a potential treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection (namely hydroxychloroquine), although larger studies do not support this evidence. 5 Because of this, a shortage of hydroxychloroquine was experienced in some countries, leaving RDs patients abruptly without drug access 6 ; this might represent a critical aspect in pregnancy management. Therefore, it seems clear that further studies are warranted in this subset of RDs patients in terms of risk assessment, pregnancy outcomes, and disease control.

All three authors conceived and wrote the manuscript. MS took the lead in writing the manuscript; CS and EP provided relevant critical feedback.

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

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