The concern about the offspring’s health is one of the reasons for a reduced family size of women with rheumatic diseases (RD). Increased risk of autoimmune diseases (AD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) has been reported in children born to patients with RD. Within a nationwide survey about reproductive issues of women with RD, we aimed at exploring the long-term outcome of their children. By surveying 398 patients who received their diagnosis of RD during childbearing age (before the age of 45), information about the offspring were obtained from 230 women who declared to have had children. A total of 148 (64.3%) patients were affected by connective tissue diseases (CTD) and 82 (35.7%) by chronic arthritis. Data on 299 children (156 males, 52.1%; mean age at the time of interview 17.1 ± 9.7 years) were collected. Twelve children (4.0%), who were born to patients with CTD in 75% of the cases, were affected by AD (8 cases of celiac disease). Eleven children had a certified diagnosis of ND (3.6%; 6 cases of learning disabilities); 9 of them were born to mothers with CTD (5 after maternal diagnosis). No association was found between ND and prenatal exposure to either maternal autoantibodies or anti-rheumatic drugs. Absolute numbers of offspring affected by AD and ND were low in a multicentre cohort of Italian women with RD. This information can be helpful for the counselling about reproductive issues, as the health outcomes of the offspring might not be an issue which discourage women with RD from having children.

对后代健康的担忧是风湿病 (RD) 女性家庭人数减少的原因之一。据报道，RD 患者所生的孩子患自身免疫性疾病 (AD) 和神经发育障碍 (ND) 的风险增加。在一项关于 RD 女性生殖问题的全国性调查中，我们旨在探索其子女的长期结果。通过调查 398 名在育龄期（45 岁之前）被诊断为 RD 的患者，从 230 名宣布生育过孩子的妇女那里获得了有关后代的信息。共有 148 名 (64.3%) 患者受到结缔组织疾病 (CTD) 的影响，82 名 (35.7%) 患者受到慢性关节炎的影响。收集了 299 名儿童（156 名男性，52.1%；采访时的平均年龄为 17.1 ± 9.7 岁）的数据。十二个孩子（4.0%），在 75% 的病例中，患有 CTD 的患者所生的孩子受到 AD 的影响（8 例乳糜泻）。11 名儿童被确诊为 ND（3.6%；6 例学习障碍）；其中 9 名母亲患有 CTD（母亲诊断后 5 名）。未发现 ND 与产前暴露于母体自身抗体或抗风湿药物之间存在关联。在意大利 RD 女性多中心队列中，受 AD 和 ND 影响的后代的绝对数量较低。这些信息可能有助于生殖问题的咨询，因为后代的健康结果可能不会成为阻碍 RD 女性生育孩子的问题。6例学习障碍）；其中 9 名母亲患有 CTD（母亲诊断后 5 名）。未发现 ND 与产前暴露于母体自身抗体或抗风湿药物之间存在关联。在意大利 RD 女性多中心队列中，受 AD 和 ND 影响的后代的绝对数量较低。这些信息可能有助于生殖问题的咨询，因为后代的健康结果可能不会成为阻碍 RD 女性生育孩子的问题。6例学习障碍）；其中 9 名母亲患有 CTD（母亲诊断后 5 名）。未发现 ND 与产前暴露于母体自身抗体或抗风湿药物之间存在关联。在意大利 RD 女性多中心队列中，受 AD 和 ND 影响的后代的绝对数量较低。这些信息可能有助于生殖问题的咨询，因为后代的健康结果可能不会成为阻碍 RD 女性生育孩子的问题。