Turner syndrome and pregnancy: clinical practice. Recommendations for the management of patients with Turner syndrome before and during pregnancy

Abstract

Following the death in France by acute aortic dissection of two women with Turner syndrome who were pregnant following oocyte donation, the Director of the French Biomedicine Agency (Agence de la biomédecine) sent a letter to the President of the French College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FCOG). He requested the College's expertise in reviewing point-by-point the cases and risk factors and in determining whether there are grounds to propose additional measures complementary to the recommendations made by the Haute autorité de santé or French National Authority for Health (HAS) in 2008 in terms of indication and monitoring of patients. A joint practice committee of the FCOG, the French Cardiologic Society, the French Chest and Cardiovascular Surgery Society, the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, the French Endocrine Society, the French study group for oocyte donation, and the Biomedicine Agency defined the exact questions to be put to the experts, chose these experts, followed them up and drafted the synthesis of recommendations resulting from their work. The questions concerned the check-up before pregnancy of Turner patients, contraindication and acceptance of pregnancy, information for the patients, and recommendations for antenatal care, delivery and postnatal follow-up.