Clinical characteristics and hematological parameters associated with disease severity in COVID‐19 positive pregnant women undergoing cesarean section: A single‐center experience

Abstract

Aim: The study aimed to describe clinical characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 undergoing cesarean section, and evaluated the association of blood values at admission with severe COVID-19 disease in this group of patients. Method: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 110 patients infected with COVID-19 who underwent cesarean section at Adana City Education and Research Hospital in Turkey. The COVID-19 severity of the patients was classified as either severe or nonsevere disease according to World Health Organization of COVID-19 clinical management guidance. We compared blood values, clinical characteristics, and outcomes between severe and nonsevere patients. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves analyses and area under the ROC curve (AUC) value was calculated to evaluate the predictive value of blood parameters on the COVID-19 severity. Results: Of the 110 women, 12 were severe cases. Severe patients had higher ferritin, neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio (NLR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and procalcitonin levels on admission (p < 0.05). The ROC analysis demonstrated AUC of NLR, LDH, AST, ALT, ferritin, and procalcitonin was 0.757, 0.856, 0.840, 0.771, 0.821, and 0.698, respectively. The LDH had a maximum specificity (90.8%), with the cutoff value of 365. The O-blood group was more likely to have severe illness than the non-O-blood group (relative risk: 3.6; 95% confidence interval; 1.2-10.4). Conclusion:This study shows that LDH values at admission are an early and powerful predictor of severe infection for pregnant women with COVID-19 who will undergo a cesarean section.

Maternal-Fetal Characteristics of Pregnant Women With Severe COVID Disease and Maternal-Neonatal Characteristics of Neonates With Early-Onset SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Prospective Data Analysis

“…Raised alanine and aspartate transaminase was a significant finding in the present study. A similar result was noted in a retrospective study from Turkey that included 110 women [11]. They concluded the predictor value of LDH levels to be higher for severe infection.…”

Blood Type Associated with the Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Pregnant Women

“…One study analyzing exclusively pregnant women from Turkey observed a higher frequency of the O blood group in women who developed severe COVID. However, this study should be taken cautiously since the number of women included was relatively small [ 22 ]. In a study conducted in Spain, including exclusively pregnant women, the proportion of asymptomatic women was significantly higher in non-O groups when compared with the O group.…”

Cardiovascular Complications of COVID-19 among Pregnant Women and Their Fetuses: A Systematic Review

“…Some studies concentrated on the severity of COVID-19 and its effect on the incidence of pre-eclampsia. Arslan et al [ 38 ] observed pre-eclampsia in 11 out of 110 pregnant patients with COVID-19, with a higher percentage in non-severe patients ( p -value = 0.09). A prospective observational study, conducted by Mendoza et al [ 39 ], studied 34 cases of non-severe and eight cases of severe COVID-19 pregnant women.…”