| Clinical Investigation of Women with Asthma Worsened during Pregnancy. |
|
Young Hwan Kwon, Kyung Kyu Kim, Hye Cheol Jung, Sung Yong Lee, Je Hyeong Kim, So Ra Lee, Sang Youb Lee, Sin Hyeong Lee, Jae Yun Cho, Jae Jeong Shim, Kyung Ho Kang, Se Hwa Yoo, Kwang Ho In |
|
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. |
|
|
| Abstract |
BACKGROUND
Asthma is the most common respiratory crisis encountered in clinical practice, occurring in up to 4% of all pregnancies. Pregnancy often appears to alter the course of asthma. But the mechanisms responsible for variable changes in the asthma course during pregnancy remain unknown. Poor control and exacerbations of asthma during pregnancy may result in serious maternal and fetal complications. To investigate the course of asthma during pregnancy in korean women, we did a retrograde study of 27 pregnant women who had been admitted to Korea University Hospital for asthma worsened. METHOD: Twenty seven pregnant women who had been visited to Korea University Hospital for asthma worsened were enrolled in our retrospective study. We reviewed medical recordings and interviewed patients with asthma. RESULTS: Twenty seven pregnant women with asthma were evaluated, and 25 patients were enrolled to our study. Two patients experienced abortions at 6 weeks and 25 weeks gestation, respectively. The period of asthma worsened was commonly during weeks 20 to 28 of gestation. And all patients wosened were improved during the last 4 weeks of pregnancy. Twenty(80%) of 25 women whose asthma worsened during pregnancy reverted toward their prepregnancy status after delivery(p<0.002). The causes of asthma worsened during pregnancy are reduction or even complete cessaton of medication due to fears about its safety(40%), worsening after upper respiratory infection(28%), and unknown(32%). There were no adverse perinatal outcomes in 25 pregnant asthma subjects. CONCLUSIONS: A major problem of therapy for asthma during pregnancy is reduction or even complete cessation of medication due to fears of fetal effects. Therefore, maternal education and optimal clinical and pharmacologic management is necessary to mitigate maternal and fetal complications. |
| Key Words:
Asthma, Pregnancy |
|
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation
