Pregnancy in an intestinal transplant recipient.

Abstract

Intestinal transplantation is a relatively new form of therapy for short gut syndrome. Pregnancy after intestinal transplantation is rare. A 26-year-old small bowel transplant recipient presented for prenatal care. She previously had undergone bariatric surgery and later experienced small bowel necrosis and resection. The resulting short gut syndrome was treated with an isolated small bowel transplant. Medications during this pregnancy included prednisone, esomeprazole, diphenoxylate-atropine, ascorbic acid, tacrolimus, and magnesium supplementation. Throughout her pregnancy, her creatinine level was elevated. Labor was induced at 39 3/7 weeks and resulted in a spontaneous vaginal delivery of a healthy female neonate. Twelve weeks after delivery, the mother was admitted for a rejection reaction that was treated successfully. A successful pregnancy in an intestinal transplant recipient resulted in delivery of a healthy term newborn.