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Evaluating Maternal and Neonatal Health in Rheumatoid Arthritis Pregnancies – Hiroki Ozawa

Hiroki Ozawa/LinkedIn

Dec 20, 2025, 10:53

Evaluating Maternal and Neonatal Health in Rheumatoid Arthritis Pregnancies – Hiroki Ozawa

Hiroki Ozawa, Rheumatologist at St.Luke’s International Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn about a paper by Yuri Hiramatsu et al. published in Rheumatology:

“Real-World Data from Japan: Treat-to-Target Strategy in RA Pregnancy

Sharing new real-world evidence from the Japanese multicentre ANSWER cohort, which analyzed 118 pregnancies in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and evaluated the impact of a treat-to-target (T2T) approach.

Key Insights from Japan

1․ T2T enables both disease control and healthy pregnancy outcomes

85% of patients maintained remission or low disease activity throughout pregnancy.

Tight control translated into excellent outcomes, including a 92.8% full-term delivery rate.

Continued use of pregnancy-compatible bDMARDs (e.g., etanercept, certolizumab pegol) was linked with lower disease activity during later trimesters.

2․ Salazosulfapyridine (SASP) shows a positive neonatal signal

Maternal SASP use in the third trimester was associated with higher birth weights (P=0.003) and a trend toward longer gestational ages (P=0.051).

While causality needs further confirmation, this real-world signal supports SASP as a potentially beneficial option during pregnancy.

Take-home message:

Individualized T2T strategies are feasible and effective in pregnant RA patients, supporting both maternal stability and optimal fetal health.

Effect of treat-to-target strategies on maternal and neonatal outcomes of rheumatoid arthritis: a multicentre real-world ANSWER cohort study | Rheumatology | Oxford Academic

For more research summaries and clinical insights, I share quick audio digests here:

Journal Note — Spotify Podcast”

Title: Effect of treat-to-target strategies on maternal and neonatal outcomes of rheumatoid arthritis: a multicentre real-world ANSWER cohort study

Authors: Yuri Hiramatsu, Takuya Kotani, Eri Nakamura, Ayaka Yoshikawa, Motomu Hashimoto, Akira Onishi, Kouichi Murata, Natsuki Yamamoto, Kosaku Murakami, Toru Hirano, Yuichi Maeda, Kosuke Ebina, Sho Sendo, Yonsu Son, Hideki Amuro, Ryota Hara, Masaki Katayama, Wataru Yamamoto, Tohru Takeuchi

Read the full article.

Hiroki Ozawa