Pregnancy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus after cyclophosphamide therapy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often affects females of reproductive age and Cyclophosphamide, an alkylating agent leading to premature ovarian insufficiency (POF) and labelled category D for pregnancy is used as induction therapy for severe manifestations of lupus. There have been multiple case series reflecting variable outcomes of pregnancies after cyclophosphamide use for cancers and autoimmune diseases. With increasing maternal age, we have an increasing population of lupus patients who may wish to conceive after having received cyclophosphamide therapy. The objective of our study was to improve our understanding of the impact of cyclophosphamide exposure on fertility and pregnancy outcomes in patients with SLE.We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients who had received intravenous cyclophosphamide at our academic institute in the time period from 2000-2018 and identified 440 patients which included 157 female patients of reproductive age. There were 37 documented pregnancies after the cyclophosphamide infusion, of which 23 patients had successful outcomes; 4 elective abortion and 10 miscarriages. There were 17 patients who developed POF, of which 7 also had end stage renal disease. The average cumulative dose of cyclophosphamide in the patients who had successful pregnancy was 4080.37 mg compared to 2806.25 mg in those who had a miscarriage (p 0.164) and 5526.47 mg in those who developed POF (p 0.046). Using multiple regressions to evaluate risk factors impacting pregnancy outcomes, when taken as a set, the predictors including race, serological profile, exposure to steroids and Mycophenolate mofetil, age at cyclophosphamide infusion, age at pregnancy, and cumulative cyclophosphamide dose accounted for 46.29% of the variance in outcome of pregnancy (p 0.23) and 39.58% of the variance in development of premature ovarian failure (p 0.008). We noted statistical significance in the impact of maternal age at time of pregnancy (p 0.04) and duration of time between the last infusions to subsequent pregnancy (p 0.02) to pregnancy outcome.Our findings suggest that a longer time interval between the last cyclophosphamide infusion and subsequent pregnancy was favorable for a successful outcome and higher cumulative cyclophosphamide dose is more likely to be associated with premature ovarian failure.

Delivering on the Promise: Exploring Training Characteristics and Graduate Career Pursuits of Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Programs and Tracks.

BACKGROUND: Specialized primary care internal medicine (PC IM) residency programs and tracks aim to provide dedicated PC training. How programs deliver this is unclear. OBJECTIVE: We explored how PC IM programs and tracks provide ambulatory training. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey from 2012 to 2013 of PC IM program and track leaders via a search of national databases and program websites. We reported PC IM curricular content, clinical experiences, and graduate career pursuits, and assessed correlation between career pursuits and curricular content and clinical experiences. RESULTS: Forty-five of 70 (64%) identified PC IM programs and tracks completed the survey. PC IM programs provide a breadth of curricular content and clinical experiences, including a mean 22.8 weeks ambulatory training and a mean 69.4 continuity clinics per year. Of PC IM graduates within 5 years, 55.8% pursue PC or general internal medicine (GIM) careers and 23.1% pursue traditional subspecialty fellowship training. Curricular content and clinical experiences correlate weakly with career choices. PC IM graduates pursuing PC or GIM careers correlated with ambulatory rotation in women's health (correlation coefficient [rho] = 0.36, P = .034) and mental health (rho = 0.38, P = .023) and curricular content in teaching and medical education (rho = 0.35, P = .035). PC IM graduates pursuing subspecialty fellowship negatively correlated with curricular content in leadership and teams (rho = -0.48, P = .003) and ambulatory training time (rho = -0.38, P = .024). CONCLUSIONS: PC IM programs and tracks largely deliver on the promise to provide PC training and education and produce graduates engaged in PC and GIM.