Confirmation of preeclampsia-like syndrome induced by severe COVID-19: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some studies have reported an increased preeclampsia incidence in pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Several explanations for this association have been proposed, including a preeclampsia-like syndrome induced by severe COVID-19. This syndrome was described in a small case series and has not been confirmed in larger studies, and its effect on perinatal outcomes has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to confirm the preeclampsia-like syndrome because of COVID-19 and to investigate its implications on pregnancy outcomes and prognosis. STUDY DESIGN: This was a prospective, observational study conducted in a tertiary referral hospital. The inclusion criteria were pregnant women admitted to the intensive care unit for severe pneumonia because of COVID-19. They were classified into 3 groups based on clinical and laboratory findings: preeclampsia, preeclampsia-like syndrome, and women without preeclampsia features. The 3 cohorts were analyzed and compared at 3 different times: before, during, and after severe pneumonia. The main outcomes were incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes and signs and symptoms of PE, such as hypertension, proteinuria, thrombocytopenia, elevated liver enzymes, and increased angiogenic factors (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1-to-placental growth factor ratio). RESULTS: A total of 106 women were admitted to the intensive care unit because of severe pneumonia, and 68 women were included in the study. Of those, 53 (50.0%) did not meet the diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia and remained pregnant after pneumonia (non-preeclampsia); 7 (6.6%) met the diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia, had abnormal (>38) soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1-to-placental growth factor ratio (preeclampsia), and delivered during severe pneumonia, and 8 (7.5%) met the diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia, had normal (≤38) soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1-to-placental growth factor ratio (preeclampsia like), and did not deliver during pneumonia. Despite not having delivered, most preeclampsia-related features improved after severe pneumonia in women with preeclampsia-like syndrome. Women with preeclampsia had significantly poorer outcomes than women with preeclampsia-like syndrome or without preeclampsia. CONCLUSION: More than 50% of women with severe COVID-19 and diagnostic criteria for preeclampsia may not be preeclampsia but a preeclampsia-like syndrome, which may affect up to 7.5% of women with severe COVID-19. Preeclampsia-like syndrome might have similar perinatal outcomes to those of normotensive women with severe pneumonia because of COVID-19. For these reasons, preeclampsia-like syndrome should be excluded by using soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1-to-placental growth factor ratio in future research and before making clinical decisions.

Shared risk factors for COVID-19 and preeclampsia in the first trimester: An observational study.

INTRODUCTION: The association between preeclampsia and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is under study. Previous publications have hypothesized the existence of shared risk factors for both conditions or a deficient trophoblastic invasion as possible explanations for this association. The primary aim of this study was to examine baseline risk factors measured in the first-trimester combined screening for preeclampsia in pregnant women with COVID-19 compared with the general population. A secondary aim of this study was to compare risk factors among patients with mild and severe COVID-19. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was an observational retrospective study conducted at Vall d'Hebron Hospital Campus (Catalonia, Spain). Study patients were 231 pregnant women undergoing the first-trimester screening for preeclampsia and positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 between February 2020 and September 2021. The reference cohort were 13 033 women of the general population from six centers across Catalonia from May 2019 to June 2021. Based on the need for hospitalization, patients were classified in two groups: mild and severe COVID-19. First-trimester screening for preeclampsia included maternal history, mean arterial blood pressure, mean uterine artery pulsatility index (UtAPI), placental growth factor (PlGF), and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A). RESULTS: The proportion of cases at high risk for preeclampsia was significantly higher among the COVID-19 group compared with the general population (19.0% and 13.2%, respectively; p = 0.012). When analyzing risk factors for preeclampsia individually, women with COVID-19 had higher median body mass index (25.2 vs 24.5, p = 0.041), higher UtAPI multiple of the median (MoM) (1.08 vs 1.00, p < 0.001), higher incidence of chronic hypertension (2.8% vs 0.9%, p = 0.015), and there were fewer smokers (5.7% vs 11.6%, p = 0.007). The MoMs of PlGF and PAPP-A did not differ significantly between both groups (0.96 vs 0.97, p = 0.760 and 1.00 vs 1.01, p = 0.432; respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with COVID-19, there was a higher proportion of women at high risk for preeclampsia at the first-trimester screening than in the general population, mainly because of maternal risk factors, rather than placental signs of a deficient trophoblastic invasion.

Fetal Transient Skin Edema in Two Pregnant Women With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

BACKGROUND: The risk of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remains unknown. Positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates and placental tissue have been reported, and immunoglobulin M antibodies have been detected in neonates born to mothers with infection. CASES: The first case is a woman at 22 3/7 weeks of gestation with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who was admitted to the intensive care unit. In the second case, the patient remained at home with mild symptoms, starting at 20 weeks of gestation. In both cases, fetal skin edema was observed on ultrasound examination while maternal SARS-COV-2 RT-PCR test results were positive and resolved when maternal SARS-COV-2 RT-PCR test results became negative. The RT-PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 in amniotic fluid was negative in both cases. The two pregnancies are ongoing and uneventful. CONCLUSION: Transient fetal skin edema noted in these two patients with COVID-19 in the second trimester may represent results of fetal infection or altered fetal physiology due to maternal disease or may be unrelated to the maternal illness.

Gestation and COVID-19: clinical and microbiological observational study (Gesta-COVID19).

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel disease which has been having a worldwide affect since December 2019. Evidence regarding the effects of SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy is conflicting. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated in biological samples during pregnancy (placenta, umbilical cord or amniotic fluid); however, maternal and fetal effects of the virus are not well known. METHODS: Descriptive, multicentre, longitudinal, observational study in eight tertiary care hospitals throughout Spain, that are referral centres for pregnant women with COVID-19. All pregnant women with positive SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction during their pregnancy or 14 days preconception and newborns born to mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2 will be included. They will continue to be followed up until 4 weeks after delivery. The aim of the study is to investigate both the effect of COVID-19 on the pregnancy, and the effect of the pregnancy status with the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 disease. Other samples (faeces, urine, serum, amniotic fluid, cord and peripheral blood, placenta and breastmilk) will be collected in order to analyse whether or not there is a risk of vertical transmission and to describe the behaviour of the virus in other fluids. Neonates will be followed until 6 months after delivery to establish the rate of neonatal transmission. We aim to include 150 pregnant women and their babies. Ethics approval will be obtained from all the participating centres. DISCUSSION: There is little information known about COVID-19 and its unknown effects on pregnancy. This study will collect a large number of samples in pregnant women which will allow us to demonstrate the behaviour of the virus in pregnancy and postpartum in a representative cohort of the Spanish population.