Angley M, Drews-Botsch C, Lewis TT, et al. - Researchers aimed at determining if women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in the years before an SLE diagnosis. Overall, there is limited research on perinatal outcomes among African American women with SLE.

• From the Georgia Lupus Registry and the Georgians Organized Against Lupus Cohort, researchers identified women with SLE and linked them with birth certificates by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

• Categorization of births was done into occurring more than 3 years before SLE diagnosis, 0-3 years before SLE diagnosis, 0-3 years after SLE diagnosis or more than 3 years after SLE diagnosis.

• As per analysis, risk of adverse perinatal outcomes appears higher among African American women even before a clinical diagnosis of SLE.

• Among women with SLE, more frequent occurrence of preterm births was recorded 0-3 years before SLE diagnosis (risk ratio [RR]: 1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24, 2.35), 0-3 years after SLE diagnosis (RR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.70, 3.09) and 3 or more years after diagnosis (RR: 2.83, 95% CI: 2.36, 3.38); the risk did not appear higher 3 or more years before SLE diagnosis compared with the general population (RR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.77, 1.38).

• Similar findings were recorded for small-for-gestational age births.