Objective:

The perinatal outcome of pregnancies with preeclampsia varies in comparison to pregnancies without preeclampsia. In addition, the perinatal outcomes are also altered in preterm birth. This study evaluates the neonatal outcomes of pregnancies with preterm preeclampsia compared to preterm birth related with other etiologies.

Methods:

This study included the evaluation of 160 premature neonates delivered before 37 weeks gestation. Neonatal outcomes of 35 infants delivered prematurely due to preeclampsia were compared with 125 premature infants delivered due to other etiologies. Neonatal outcomes included: APGAR scores, length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), intubation rates, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and neonatal death (NND).

Results:

There was no difference in the APGAR scores between the two groups (p>0.05). The rate of intubation, RDS, NND and stay in NICU were found similar among the groups (p>0.05). Early preterm delivery (<34 week) rate was found to be higher in preeclampsia (80% vs. 60.8%, p=0.045). The rate of infants with very low birth weight (<1500gr) was found to be higher in preeclampsia compared to the other group (37.1% vs. 18.4%, p=0.034).

Conclusion:

The neonatal outcomes of infants delivered prematurely due to preeclampsia appeared to be worse than the premature infants delivered due to other etiologies. These results can be explained with the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and its effect on the fetus during the intrauterine period.

Keywords: