Asthma and its treatment during pregnancy

Asthma occurs in 0.4 to 4.0% of pregnant women and is considered to be the most frequent respiratory disease during pregnancy. Physiological modifications during pregnancy, including hyperventilation due to increased progesterone levels and lower residual volume and functional capacity resulting fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLa Presse médicale (1983) Vol. 24; no. 20; p. 953
Main Authors Sleiman, C, Mal, H, Roué, C, Fournier, M, Pariente, R
Format Journal Article
LanguageFrench
Published France 03.06.1995
Subjects
Adrenal Cortex Hormones - therapeutic use
Asthma - complications
Asthma - drug therapy
Asthma - physiopathology
Female
Fetal Hypoxia - etiology
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications - therapy
Sympathomimetics - therapeutic use
Theophylline - therapeutic use
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Summary:Asthma occurs in 0.4 to 4.0% of pregnant women and is considered to be the most frequent respiratory disease during pregnancy. Physiological modifications during pregnancy, including hyperventilation due to increased progesterone levels and lower residual volume and functional capacity resulting from increased uterine volume can interfere with the asthmatic disease and require adapted management. Results of studies evaluating the interaction between asthma and pregnancy provide a wide variety of results. For some authors, manifestations of asthma may worsen during pregnancy requiring reinforced medical treatment in as many as 42% of the patients. For others bronchial hyperreactivity is significantly diminished during pregnancy. These findings should be examined in light of several individual factors including the spontaneous clinical course of asthma itself and more rigorous control during pregnancy. It is thus very difficult to predict the effect of pregnancy on clinical manifestations of asthma in any given patient or from one pregnancy to another. Certain authors have observed a correlation between IgE levels and the gravity of asthma in pregnant women: normally IgE levels tend to decline during pregnancy but may remain unchanged or increase if asthma manifestations worsen. Therapeutic options remain unchanged during pregnancy although only drugs proven safe for the fetus may be used. If carefully managed, pregnancy in the asthmatic patient usually reaches term with no major problem.
ISSN:0755-4982