Pregnancy management and outcome in women with chronic kidney disease.

An increasing number of pregnancies occur in the presence of chronic kidney diseases (CKD), mainly including chronic glomerulonephritis (GN), diabetic nephropathy (DN), and lupus nephritis (LN). The most important factor affecting fetal and maternal prognosis is the degree of renal function at conception. In the majority of patients with mild renal function impairment, and well-controlled blood pressure, pregnancy is usually successful and does not alter the natural course of maternal renal disease. Conversely, fetal outcome and long-term maternal renal function might be seriously threatened by pregnancy in women with moderate or severe renal function impairment. The last few years, advances in our knowledge about the interaction of pregnancy and renal function resulted in the improvement of fetal outcome in patients with chronic renal failure and also in the management of pregnant women with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) maintained on dialysis. However, women with impaired renal function and those on dialysis should be carefully counseled about the risks of pregnancy.