Purpose
Management and outcomes of pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) remain to be investigated.
Methods
A retrospective multicenter study conducted in 32 ICUs in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Maternal management as well as maternal and neonatal outcomes were reported.
Results
Among the 187 pregnant women with COVID-19 (33 ± 6 years old and 28 ± 7 weeks’ gestation), 76 (41%) were obese, 12 (6%) had diabetes mellitus and 66 (35%) had pregnancy-related complications. Standard oxygenation, high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNO) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) were used as the only oxygenation technique in 41 (22%), 55 (29%) and 18 (10%) patients, respectively, and 73 (39%) were intubated. Overall, 72 (39%) patients required several oxygenation techniques and 15 (8%) required venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Corticosteroids and tocilizumab were administered in 157 (84%) and 25 (13%) patients, respectively. Awake prone positioning or prone positioning was performed in 49 (26%) patients. In multivariate analysis, risk factors for intubation were obesity (cause-specific hazard ratio (CSH) 2.00, 95% CI (1.05–3.80),
p
= 0.03), term of pregnancy (CSH 1.07, 95% CI (1.02–1.10), per + 1 week gestation,
p
= 0.01), extent of computed tomography (CT) scan abnormalities > 50% (CSH 2.69, 95% CI (1.30–5.60),
p
< 0.01) and NIV use (CSH 2.06, 95% CI (1.09–3.90),
p
= 0.03). Delivery was required during ICU stay in 70 (37%) patients, mainly due to maternal respiratory worsening, and improved the driving pressure and oxygenation. Maternal and fetal/neonatal mortality rates were 1% and 4%, respectively. The rate of maternal and/or neonatal complications increased with the invasiveness of maternal respiratory support.
Conclusion
In ICU, corticosteroids, tocilizumab and prone positioning were used in few pregnant women with COVID-19. Over a third of patients were intubated and delivery improved the driving pressure.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00134-022-06833-8.
