Weill Cornell Medicine reports Jane E. Salmon, MD, rheumatologist at HSS, facilitated an 11-year, NIH-funded study, titled PROMISSE, which sought to identify those who are at a higher risk for complications and those who could be expected to have a healthy pregnancy. The study evaluated 700 pregnant women, most of whom had lupus or another autoimmune condition, and the findings demonstrated that most women with lupus have good pregnancy outcomes if their disease is inactive.

Dr. Salmon and her colleagues later conducted a separate investigation: an analysis of blood samples from a subset of the patients from the larger study (92 pregnant women with lupus and 43 without the disease). These results, published in the April 2019 edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, demonstrated there are distinct molecular changes that take place in the immune systems of lupus patients during pregnancy that may determine the likelihood of major issues (i.e., preeclampsia). Additionally, these findings could assist with the development of early diagnostic tests for lupus patients that would allow physicians to better monitor and manage their pregnancies, and eventually guide the way for preventative treatments to improve outcomes for high-risk patients. Dr. Salmon noted, “To be able to tell a woman that her pregnancy is likely to be at the same risk as the women down the street with no medical problems – that’s enormous for the patient and for allocation of healthcare resources for society.”

Additionally, Dr. Salmon is conducting an HSS trial to evaluate whether an FDA-approved treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease, will significantly decrease the rate of preterm delivery due to preeclampsia or placental insufficiency in women with antiphospholipid syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that frequently affects lupus patients.

Read the full article at Weillcornellmedicine-digital.com.