ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the differences in the pregnancy outcomes of severe preeclampsia before 32 weeks of gestation in relation to the latency between admission and delivery. METHODS: We reviewed medical records of 89 pregnant women who were managed in Samsung Medical Center because of severe preeclampsia before 32 weeks of gestation between January 1996 and February 2004. We studied the differences in the management and the neonatal outcomes between the immediate delivery group (admission to delivery 2 days). We excluded maternal renal disease, chronic hypertension, multiple pregnancies, diabetes and placenta previa from this study. RESULTS: 40 women were included in the immediate delivery group and 49 women in the expectant management group. Antenatal corticosteroid was given pregnant women in the expectant management group (89.8% vs. 52.5%, p<0.0001). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of small for gestational age- and prematurity-related complications including neonatal mortality. There was significantly less respiratory distress syndrome in the expectant management group (46.9% vs. 62.5%, p=0.0315). However this difference disappeared when the adjustment was made to the gestational age at delivery (p=0.223). CONCLUSION: The latency period does not seem to alter the neonatal prognosis in severe preeclampsia before 32 weeks of gestation but the gestational age at the delivery, a reflection of the severity of the preeclampsia, seems to be the single most important factor for the occurrence of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.