The incidence of
hematological malignancies during pregnancy is low, and treatment in this setting is problematic. This study observed 21 pregnancies in 18 patients with
hematological malignancies. Patients' ages were between 19 and 43 (median 25) years. Two pregnancies ended with
spontaneous abortion, one pregnancy ended with in utero death, three
therapeutic abortions were carried out, and 15 infants were born alive but three of them died later. The median
birth weight was 2.47 kg. Twelve babies survived to a median age of 36 (range 4-117) months. Eight babies were exposed to
chemotherapy during the in utero period. One baby was exposed to
chemotherapy during all the trimesters and was born prematurely and later died because of intracranial
bleeding. Four babies were exposed to
chemotherapy during the first trimester, one of them had low birth weight and floating thumb malformation, two of them had only low birth weight, and one was born healthy, but died at 3 months of age as a result of severe
gastroenteritis. Two babies were exposed to
chemotherapy during the second and third trimesters; one of them had low birth weight, and the other pregnancy ended in in utero death. One infant was exposed to
chemotherapy during the third trimester and was born at term, but died because of pulmonary
hemorrhage. We concluded that
chemotherapy during all trimesters of pregnancy carries a significant risk for an unfavorable outcome.