PREGNANCY AND LACTATION IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS

Psoriasis is an inflammatory chronic, common skin disease that represents a great burden affecting people of all ages. It has no clear cause and although there are treatments none of them can guaranty remission. This pathology has a significant negative impact on people in all countries, affecting between 0.09% and 11.43%, which means at least 100 million people worldwide. A particular category is represented by pregnant women. Although it is reported that 55% of the patients have improved symptomatology during pregnancy, 21% reported no change and 23% suffered worsening of the illness. Psoriasis can be difficult to manage due to fluctuations in hormone levels.  Even if patients can experience improvements during pregnancy, most of the women report worsening in the post-partum period (4-6 weeks). Pregnancy and lactation can also interfere with specific treatment for psoriasis. Psoriasis can increase the risk of gestational, diabetes, pre-eclampsia and hypertension in pregnancy, increased risk of preterm birth, low birth weight and emergency caesarean section. In order to have a positive outcome for the mother and the baby, careful multidisciplinary management is needed. The aim of this review is to summarize the notions in the literature regarding pregnancy with psoriasis and the current treatment trend in this group of patients.