COVID-19 in women with ankylosing spondylitis during pregnancy and within one year after childbirth

Objective – to describe the course of COVID-19 and its effect on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) activity in women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy and within one 1 year after childbirth.Material and methods. 78 pregnant women with confirmed AS (modified New York criteria, 1984) were included for prospective observation. In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic (03.2020 – 04.2022) 26 of them were followed during pregnancy and 22 within maximum 12 months after childbirth. The average age of pregnant patients was 33.0±3.9 years, the duration of the disease was 117.0±72.0 months. The average age of patients after delivery was 31.5±4.3 years. The activity according to the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy was 2.0±1.4, 2.0±1.4 and 1.9±1.5. The activity according to BASDAI at 1, 6 and 12 months after delivery was 2.0±1.3, 2.2±1.3 and 2.5±2.0 respectively.Results. 4 women were COVID-positive: 3 of them at the beginning of 3rd trimester, 1 – on the 38th week of pregnancy. In 3 cases, the activity of AS was low, in one – high due to axial manifestations and arthritis. In 3 women, the course of COVID-19 was mild, in one – moderate (febrile temperature for more than 3 days); only 1 woman had a dry cough. One pregnant woman canceled AS therapy (certolizumab pegol (CZP)), against which the back pain of the inflammatory rhythm increased. In other cases, AS therapy was not canceled, there was no effect of COVID on AS activity.Within one year after delivery 5 women were COVID-positive. At the time of infection, AS activity in all patients was low, 3 women received CZP. In all cases, COVID proceeded with febrile fever for at least 1 day, while general symptoms disappeared within a maximum of 7 days. Only 1 woman had a dry cough. No effect of COVID on AS activity was found, including in 2 patients who canceled CZP. None of the patients were vaccinated against COVID.Conclusion. According to preliminary data, COVID in pregnant women with AS is to be characterized by a mild to moderate course. During pregnancy, against the background of ongoing therapy, there was no increase in AS activity. During lactation, there was also no effect of COVID on the initially low AS activity. One of the main symptoms of COVID during lactation was a febrile fever, regardless of the period between the childbirth and infection.