PURPOSE

To describe the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women diagnosed with leukemia who were followed up for prenatal care and delivery at a university hospital.

METHODS

A retrospective study of the period from 2001 to 2011, which included 16 pregnant women with a diagnosis of leukemia followed by antenatal care specialists in hematological diseases and pregnancy. For acute leukemia diagnosed after the first trimester, the recommendation was to perform chemotherapy despite the current pregnancy. For chronic leukemia, patients who were controlled in hematological terms were maintained without medication during pregnancy, or chemotherapy was introduced after the first trimester. We analyzed the maternal and perinatal outcome.

RESULTS

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was diagnosed in five cases (31.3%), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in two cases (12.5%) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in nine cases (56.3%). Of the cases of acute leukemia, two (28.6%) were diagnosed in the first trimester, two (28.6%) in the second and three (42.9%) in the third. Two patients with ALL diagnosed in the first trimester opted for therapeutic abortion. Four patients with acute leukemia received chemotherapy during pregnancy, with a diagnosis established after the 20th week. In one case of ALL with a late diagnosis (30 weeks), chemotherapy was started after delivery. All pregnant women with acute leukemia developed anemia and thrombocytopenia, and four (57.1%) developed febrile neutropenia. Of nine pregnant women with CML, four were treated with imatinib mesylate when they became pregnant, with treatment being interrupted in the first trimester in three of them and in the second trimester in one. During pregnancy, three patients (33.3%) required no chemotherapy after discontinuation of imatinib, and six (66.7%) were treated with the following drugs: interferon (n=5) and/or hydroxyurea (n=3 ). In the group of pregnant women with CML, anemia occurred in four (44.4%) cases and thrombocytopenia in one (11.1%). The perinatal outcomes of pregnancies complicated by acute leukemia were as follows: mean gestational age at delivery was 32 weeks (standard deviation - SD=4.4) and the mean birth weight was 1476 g (SD=657 g), there were 2 (40.0%) perinatal deaths (a fetal one and a neonatal one). In pregnancies complicated by CML, the mean gestational age at delivery was 37.6 weeks (SD=1.1) and the mean birth weight was 2870 g (SD=516 g). There was no perinatal death and no fetal abnormality was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal and fetal morbidity is high in pregnancies complicated by acute leukemia. Whereas, in pregnancies complicated by CML, the maternal and fetal prognosis appears to be more favorable, with greater ease in management of complications.