REVIEW   

Minerva Obstetrics and Gynecology 2023 April;75(2):181-8

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-606X.22.05052-7

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Perinatal mental illness and autoimmune diseases: a qualitative sistematic review

Sara TABACCO ¹ ✉, Manuela LUDOVISI ², Angela D’ALFONSO ², Patrizia PALERMO ², Rita RONCONE ³, Tommaso DE VITA ⁴, Erika PELACCIA ², Christian DI FLORIO ¹, Matteo BRUNO ¹, Maurizio GUIDO ²

¹ Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, San Salvatore Hospital, L’Aquila, Italy; ² Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy; ³ Unit of Rehabilitation Treatment, Early Interventions in Mental Health, Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, S. Salvatore Hospital, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy; ⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, SS. Annunziata Hospital, G. D’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy

INTRODUCTION: The term “perinatal mental illness” refers to the set of psychiatric disorders that occur during pregnancy and up to one year after childbirth. The disorders that occurred before pregnancy along with the disorders that emerge during pregnancy or in the postpartum period are all considered perinatal mental illnesses. The causes of prenatal mental illness are still unknown. However, recent studies have shown a major risk in patients with autoimmune diseases (AIDs).
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We performed a comprehensive search of relevant studies from February 2000 to December 2021 to ensure all possible studies were captured. A systematic search of PubMed databases was conducted. We selected “autoimmune disease” as the search term, combining with “perinatal mental illness,” “perinatal depression” or “postpartum anxiety” or “postpartum psychosis” or “bipolar disorder” or “postpartum blues.”
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The results of our review show that patients with perinatal mental illness have higher risks of subsequent AIDs. In fact, when a woman develops perinatal mental illness, accurate counseling can be employed: on the one hand, the woman should be send to the psychiatrist, on the other hand she has to be informed about the increased risk of a future developement of AID.
CONCLUSIONS: As described in the literature, correlation between perinatal mental illness and AID could bring new diagnostic opportunities, relevant for practical decisions. Further studies need to confirm the correlation between perinatal mental illness and AID.

KEY WORDS: Mental disorders; Depression, postpartum; Autoimmune diseases