Is blood pressure 120-139/80-89 mmHg before 20 weeks a risk factor for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy? A meta-analysis.

AIM: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy affect approximately 10% of pregnant women worldwide with serious fetal and maternal implications. Chronic hypertension is diagnosed prior to 20 weeks of gestation and affects 1.5% of pregnant women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines hypertension in pregnancy as a systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mmHg. In real-world clinical practice, practitioners consider the cut-off of 140/90 mmHg as a marker of true hypertension in pregnancy and consider blood pressures lower than that as normal. METHODS: To assess the association between a lower range of blood pressures and the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, we performed a meta-analysis of current published studies comparing the occurrence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in patients with blood pressures of 120-139/80-89 mmHg before 20 weeks to those with blood pressures<120/80 mmHg. RESULTS: We included 24 studies: 12362/106870 (11.6 %) patients with blood pressures of 120-139/80-89 mmHg, and 26044/463280 (5.6 %) with blood pressures lower than 120/80 mmHg, developed hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [risk ratio 2.85 (C.I. 2.47-3.3)] - test for overall effect: Z = 14.1 (p < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: We showed evidence of poor pregnancy outcome in patients with blood pressure lower than the routinely accepted cut-off of 140/90 mmHg. Therefore, interventions to mitigate the risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in women with blood pressures 120-139/80-89 mmHg should be planned in new clinical trials.

Hispanic race is a risk factor for COVID-19 during pregnancy: data from an urban New York City hospital.

There are limited studies on predisposing factors for COVID-19 positivity in asymptomatic pregnant women. The literature published to date on asymptomatic COVID-19 pregnant carriers does not focus on pregnancy or pre-pregnancy comorbidities. We wanted to identify risk factors for COVID-19 in asymptomatic pregnant women. We performed a retrospective chart review of 263 asymptomatic pregnant women admitted to labour and delivery at New York City Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.We analysed the association between race, body mass index (BMI), smoking, indication for admission, gravidity, parity, pre-pregnancy comorbidity, pregnancy comorbidity via uni- and multivariate statistical tests. Only Hispanic race was significant in the univariate analysis (p = .049). At the post-hoc analysis, Hispanics had a higher proportion of COVID-19 cases compared to non-Hispanic Blacks (p = .019). No variables were significantly associated with COVID-19 positivity in the multivariate analysis.Hispanic race appears to be a risk factor for asymptomatic COVID-19 infection during pregnancy. We speculate that the cultural and socioeconomic reality of Hispanic women living in our community leads to more exposure opportunities and therefore, a higher infection rate.Impact statementWhat is already known on this subject? Little is known on the role of comorbidities and risk factors that can favour COVID-19 infection during pregnancy.What do the results of this study add? We found that Hispanic pregnant asymptomatic women had a higher rate of COVID-19 in comparison to non-Hispanic Black women. Pre-pregnancy comorbidities such as pregestational diabetes, hypertension and asthma were not associated with COVID-19 positivity.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The reasons why the Hispanic race is more affected by COVID-19 during pregnancy is unclear. The social environment of Hispanic women living in our community, such as their tendency to live in multigenerational and multi-family households, might contribute to a higher infection rate. More resources might be dedicated in the future to Hispanic-dense neighbourhoods.

Intrauterine transmission of COVID-19 in Pregnancy: case report and review of literature.

We report the first case of SARS-CoV-2 pregnancy in the U.S. Our literature review highlights the rarity of COVID-19 intrauterine transmission and the need for clinicians to promptly test neonates born to SARS-CoV-2 positive mothers at delivery for COVID-19. It is imperative to establish the real risk of intrauterine transmission and to develop appropriate preventive and treatment strategies.

Risk Factors for Neonatal/Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in African American Women with Placental Abruption.

Background and Objectives: Risk factors for neonatal/maternal morbidity and mortality in placental abruption have been incompletely studied in the current literature. Most of the research overlooked the African American population as mostly Caucasian populations are selected. We aimed to find which risk factor influence the neonatal and maternal outcome in cases of placental abruption occurring in African American pregnant women in an inner-city urban setting. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, NJ United States of America (USA), between 1986 and 1996. Inclusion criteria were African American race, singleton pregnancy with gestational age over 20 weeks and placental abruption. Maternal age, gravidity, parity, gestational age at delivery/occurrence of placental abruption and mode of delivery were collected. Risk factors for placental abruption such as placenta previa, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, cigarette smoking, crack/cocaine and alcohol use, mechanical trauma, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and premature rupture of membranes (PROM) were recorded. Poor neonatal outcome was considered when anyone of the following occurred: 1st and 5th minute Apgar score lower than 7, intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD), perinatal death, and neonatal arterial umbilical cord pH less than 7.15. Poor maternal outcome was considered if any of the following presented at delivery: hemorrhagic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), hysterectomy, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), maternal intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and maternal death. Results: A population of 271 singleton African American pregnant women was included in the study. Lower gestational age at delivery and cesarean section were statistically significantly correlated with poor neonatal outcomes (p = 0.018; p < 0.001; p = 0.015) in the univariate analysis; only lower gestational age at delivery remained significant in the multivariate analysis (p = < 0.001). Crack/cocaine use was statistically significantly associated with poor maternal outcome (p = 0.033) in the univariate analysis, while in the multivariate analysis, hemolysis, elevated enzymes, low platelet (HELLP) syndrome, crack/cocaine use and previous cesarean section resulted significantly associated with poor maternal outcome (p = 0.029, p = 0.017, p = 0.015, p = 0.047). PROM was associated with better neonatal outcome in the univariate analysis, and preeclampsia was associated with a better maternal outcome in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Lower gestational age at delivery is the most important risk factor for poor neonatal outcome in African American women with placental abruption. Poor maternal outcome correlated with HELLP syndrome, crack/cocaine use and previous cesarean section. More research in this understudied population is needed to establish reliable risk factors and coordinate preventive interventions.