Neonatal outcome in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Background

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy account for increased perinatal morbidity and mortality when compared to uneventful gestations.

Aims

To analyze perinatal outcome of pregnancies complicated by different kinds of hypertension to uncomplicated pregnancies in a series of Italian women and to compare our data with series from other countries.

Study design

The sample was divided into four groups of hypertensive women: chronic hypertension (CH), gestational hypertension (GH), preeclampsia (PE), and chronic hypertension complicated by preeclampsia (CHPE). One thousand normal pregnancies served as controls.

Subjects

Neonatal features of the offspring of 965 Italian women with hypertension in pregnancy were evaluated.

Measures

Gestational age, birthweight and the rate of small for gestational age were the outcomes. Perinatal asphyxia and mortality were also assessed.

Results

Gestational age, the mean of birth weight and birth percentile were significantly lower in all groups with hypertensive complications when compared with controls. The rate of very early preterm delivery (< 32 weeks) was 7.8% in CH, 5.9% in GH, 21.2% in PE and 37.2% in CHPE while it was to 1.2% in the control group. The rate of SGA was globally 16.2% in CH, 22.8% in GH, 50.7% in PE, 37.2% in CHPE and 5% in controls. The rate of SGA in PE was much higher than reported in series from other countries.

Conclusion

Comparing our data with those reported from other countries, it is evident that the rate of fetal growth restriction in PE we found in our center, is significantly higher even in the presence of a global lower incidence of PE.