What we do not know about pregnancy in hereditary neuromuscular disorders

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Neuromuscul Disord. 2009 Aug 17.

What we do not know about pregnancy in hereditary neuromuscular disorders.

Argov Z, de Visser M.

Department of Neurology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem,

Israel.

Only sparse information is available concerning the relationship between

pregnancy and hereditary neuromuscular disorders. This review deals with several

issues like the effects of such conditions on female fertility (myotonic

dystrophy type 1 and mitochondrial disorders), on the risk to the fetus

(myotonic dystrophy type 1 and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease), on the ability to

carry pregnancy and its complications (markedly increased preterm labor in

myotonic dystrophies and spinal muscular atrophy), on the labor and its possible

need for interventions (myotonic dystrophy type 1, facioscapulohumeral dystrophy

and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease).

It also discusses the question of pregnancy effects on the course of the

inherited neuromuscular disorders (myotonic dystrophies, spinal muscular

atrophy, facioscapulohumeral dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, congenital

myopathy and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy).

The aim of this critical review is to point at pregnancy-related problems that

need further research.