Sirolimus used during pregnancy in a living related renal transplant recipient: a case report

OBJECTIVES: The majority of pregnancies after transplantation reported in the literature occurred in patients treated with a combination of calcineurin inhibitors, prednisolone, and azathioprine. There is little experience with newer drugs. We report a successful pregnancy in a kidney recipient with exposure to sirolimus-based immunosuppression. METHODS: We describe a case of successful delivery in a 30-year-old woman who became pregnant 1 year and 8 months after a living related renal transplantation. She received sirolimus, cyclosporine, and prednisolone before conception and during the first and second trimesters of gestation. RESULTS: The female recipient received sirolimus in combination with cyclosporine and prednisolone. During follow-up, her serum creatinine values were stable with pregnancy occurring at 1 year and 8 months after transplantation. At 27 gestational weeks, sirolimus was discontinued and she was maintained on cyclosporine and prednisolone. There were no signs or symptoms of graft rejection. A Cesarean section was performed at 39 weeks of gestation to deliver a healthy, 2994-g, Apgar 10, male infant. The renal function of the female recipient continued to be stable after delivery. CONCLUSION: To date, pregnancies in renal transplant recipients are still considered high risk. The U.S. National Transplantation Pregnancy Registry (NTPR) has reported increased rates of maternal and fetal complications. There have been no live births reported to the NTPR about female recipients exposed to sirolimus throughout gestation. We report a live birth without a structural defects with successful delivery after sirolimus use during the first and second trimesters of gestation.