Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome and pregnancy

Abstract

Ehlers–Danlos syndromes are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of rare inherited connective tissue disorders. Hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome is one of the common types and not infrequently encountered in pregnancy. While, in the majority of women with hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, the pregnancy is uncomplicated, it is important to be aware of the condition in view of potential complications such as recurrent joint dislocations and history of surgical joint stabilization procedures, secondary autonomic pain and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Increased awareness of the condition and a multi-disciplinary approach to the management of these women in pregnancy result in good outcome for the mother and the baby. We report the clinical characteristics and outcome of pregnancies in eight women with hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome and present a review of the literature with particular reference to management in a pregnant woman with joint hypermobility syndrome.