Pregnancies where one parent has OI result in live births to term with very few pregnancy related complications: Study

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a hereditary bone disease characterized by brittle bones and an increased tendency to develop fractures. Due to such complications, doubts have been made regarding the safety of pregnancy in OI subjects. In this way, this was the first study designed to investigate the risk of complications related to pregnancy, delivery, and offspring when one of the parents has OI.

This study was based on Danish health register-based data from 1997 to 2018. The population had all pregnancies where either the mother or father suffered from OI, compared with a reference population comprising all other pregnancies in the general population. The data was analyzed by descriptive epidemiology.

The key findings of the study were:

• OI-associated pregnancies in 433 cases, where 134 mothers and 73 fathers had OI.

• And the number of incidences of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, like pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, and perinatal hemorrhage, were about the same in the OI cohorts as in the normal population.

• More children were delivered by cesarean section in the OI cohort (31%) compared to the reference population (19%).

• The study found no significant increase in complications among offspring, including low birth weight, low Apgar scores, the need for CPAP or NICU, congenital malformations, incidence of OI, birth-related fractures, or hospital contacts during the first year of life.

The results show that pregnancies in OI patients are not more at risk than the population. This is very important, taking into consideration the fear of complications that may deter one with OI from ever trying to fall pregnant. The increased rate of cesarean section within the OI cohort of this study is significant, but this was not reflected in increased rates of bad outcomes for mother or baby.

In general, pregnancies with a partner or parent affected by osteogenesis imperfecta result in live births at term with very few complications. This study provides reassuring evidence that, despite the inherent challenges of OI, pregnancy can be safely managed in this population.

Reference:

Lykking, E. K., Damkier, P., Kammerlander, H., Broe, A., & Folkestad, L. (2024). Pregnancy complications and birth outcome in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta – A population-based register study. Bone, 117202, 117202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2024.117202