Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35358256›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Pregnancy loss and risk of multiple sclerosis and autoimmune neurological disorder: A nationwide cohort study.

Anders Pretzmann Mikkelsen, Pia Egerup, Astrid Marie Kolte, David Westergaard, Henriette Svarre Nielsen, Øjvind Lidegaard

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. [Clinical and obstetric characteristics in women with multiple sclerosis during pregnancy].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Immunology of Pregnancy and Systemic Consequences.Current topics in microbiology and immunology · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anders Pretzmann MikkelsenDepartment of Gynaecology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-7583-9826
Pia EgerupDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Astrid Marie KolteDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
David WestergaardThe Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Unit, The Capital Region, Copenhagen University Hospitals Rigshospitalet and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Henriette Svarre NielsenDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Øjvind LidegaardDepartment of Gynaecology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
University of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe loss of one or more pregnancies before viability (i.e. pregnancy loss or miscarriage), has been linked to an increased risk of diseases later in life such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Recurrent pregnancy loss (i.e. three consecutive pregnancy losses) and multiple sclerosis have both been linked to immunological traits, which could predispose to both occurrences. The objective of the current study was to investigate if pregnancy loss is associated with later autoimmune neurological disease.

methodsThis register-based cohort study, included the Danish female population age 12 or older between 1977-2017. Women were grouped hierarchically: 0, 1, 2, ≥3 pregnancy losses, primary recurrent pregnancy loss (i.e. not preceded by a delivery), and secondary recurrent pregnancy loss (i.e. preceded by a delivery). The main outcome was multiple sclerosis and additional outcomes were amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and myasthenia gravis. Bayesian Poisson regression estimated incidence rate ratios [IRR] and 95% credible intervals [CI] adjusted for year, age, live births, family history of an outcome, and education.

resultsAfter 40,380,194 years of follow-up, multiple sclerosis was diagnosed among 7,667 out of 1,513,544 included women (0.5%), median age at diagnosis 34.2 years (IQR 27.4-41.4 years), and median age at symptom onset 31.2 years (IQR 24.8-38.2). The adjusted IRR of multiple sclerosis after 1 pregnancy loss was: 1.03 (95% CI 0.95-1.11), 2 losses: 1.02 (95% CI 0.86-1.20), ≥3 non-consecutive losses: 0.81 (95% CI 0.51-1.24), primary recurrent pregnancy loss: 1.18 (95% CI 0.84-1.60), secondary recurrent pregnancy loss: 1.16 (95% CI 0.81-1.63), as compared to women with no pregnancy losses. Seven sensitivity analyses and analyses for additional outcomes did not show significantly elevated adjusted risk estimates.

conclusionsIn this nationwide study, pregnancy loss was not significantly associated with autoimmune neurological disorder.

Indexed as

Abortion, HabitualAutoimmune Diseases of the Nervous SystemMultiple SclerosisBayes TheoremChildCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLive BirthPregnancy

Identifiers

PMID35358256
PMCPMC8970484
OpenAlexW4221051200

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.