Neurofibromatosis and pregnancy: An update

Neurofibromatosis is one of the most frequent genetic diseases in humans. Pregnancy in neurofibromatosis patients is, however, less common. Most current information on pregnancy and neurofibromatosis is derived from case reports, which may not reflect the true situation. In the past 15 years only two series of pregnant neurofibromatosis patients were reported in the English-language literature. We present our experience with 34 pregnancies in nine neurofibromatosis patients who delivered at our medical center. While fertility does not seem to be impaired in neurofibromatosis, these patients experience a higher-than-expected rate of first-trimester spontaneous abortions (20.7%), stillbirths (8.7%) and intrauterine growth retardation (13.0%). A high rate of cesarean section (26%) was also observed in our series. We conclude that pregnant neurofibromatosis patients constitute a high-risk group, in danger of developing life-threatening complications. However, with proper antenatal care, most pregnant neurofibromatosis patients can deliver safely if the pregnancy continues beyond the first trimester.