Abstract :
[en] Background: Both the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) recommend to continue biologic during the whole pregnancy and until the third trimester, respectively. However, these positions are associated with a baby's exposure to the drug and from our clinical practice are not necessarily in line with patients' wishes and fears. In patients in full clinical and biologic remission, stopping biologic before it is actively transported through the placenta (around the week 20) would be a possible approach to get around these drawbacks. We aimed to assess the outcome of disease activity and pregnancies in patients stopping biologic
before the week 20.
Methods: We performed a retrospective monocentric study. All patients who gave birth between 2010 and 2023 were included. The following parameters were collected: clinical and demographic characteristics, biomarkers (CRP and faecal calprotectin before pregnancy and during the 3 trimesters), IBD treatment at time of pregnancy, whether it was stopped during pregnancy, when and in what circumstance (patient versus medical
agreement). We also looked at the disease course, whether a relapse occurred (defined as the need to take corticosteroids, a biologic, or surgical resection), and the pregnancy outcome.
Results: A total of 185 pregnancies were reported in 143 patients (73.4% Crohn disease and 26.6% ulcerative colitis). Patient's characteristics are shown in Table 1. Among these women, 106 (74.1%), 32 (22.4%) and 5 (3.5%) reported one, two or 3 or more pregnancies, respectively. Figure 1 summarises the treatments during these reported pregnancies, disease activity outcomes and pregnancy outcomes. The biologic was stopped before
conception for 9 pregnancies and 90 pregnancies started under biologics (anti-TNF, vedolizumab or ustekinumab). Of these, biologic was continued until delivery in 10 (11.1%) patients, whereas it was stopped before the week 20 for the others (88.9%). Among patients who stopped biologics before conception, before the week 20, and those who continued biologics through delivery: 3/9 (33.3%), 13/80 (16.3%; including 10/66 or 15.2% among those stopping on medical agreement) and 4/10 (40%) relapsed, respectively. Among the 10 relapses in patients who stopped in first trimester
on medical agreement, 6 had normal biomarkers before cessation (unknown for the others).
Conclusion: Biologic discontinuation before week 20 on medical agreement was associated with relapse in 15.2% of cases. Fate of disease activity
and pregnancies in patients stopping biologic before week 20 should be studied prospectively in a dedicated study.
