Is the Course of COVID-19 Different during Pregnancy? A Retrospective Comparative Study

Marcin Januszewski, Laura Ziuzia-Januszewska, Alicja A. Jakimiuk, Waldemar Wierzba, Anna Gluszko, Joanna Zytynska-Daniluk and Artur J. Jakimiuk
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Marcin Januszewski: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Laura Ziuzia-Januszewska: Department of Otolaryngology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Alicja A. Jakimiuk: Department of Plastic Surgery, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Waldemar Wierzba: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Anna Gluszko: Department of Neonatology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Joanna Zytynska-Daniluk: Department of Neonatology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
Artur J. Jakimiuk: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health systems around the world. Maternal-foetal medicine, which has been particularly affected, must consider scientific data on the physiological processes occurring in the pregnant woman’s body to develop relevant standards of care. Our study retrospectively compared the clinical and laboratory characteristics of 52 COVID-19 pregnant patients with 53 controls. Most of the pregnant patients required medical attention during the third trimester and therefore we propose that vaccination is needed prior to the 30th week of pregnancy. We found no differences between the 2 groups in the course of illness classification system, days of hospital stay, need for oxygen supplementation, need for mechanical ventilation, and ICU admission. Moreover, clinical manifestations and imaging findings were comparable. Pregnant patients needed a greater oxygen flow rate and required high flow oxygen therapy more frequently. Considering pregnancy-related physiological adaptations, we found that COVID-19 infection in pregnant patients is associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers, apart from serum ferritin, than in non-pregnant women, and concluded that biomarkers of cardiac and muscle injury, as well as kidney function, may not be good predictors of COVID-19 clinical course in pregnant patients at the time of admission, but more research needs to be conducted on this topic.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; clinical course; pregnancy; oxygen flow; inflammatory markers; ferritin; laboratory indicators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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