More transfusions during pregnancy may lower intrauterine fetal death risk in SCD: Study

Written By : Dr Satabdi Saha |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2021-03-29T11:15:40+05:30 | Updated On 29 March 2021 12:03 PM IST

Pregnancy in sickle cell disease is at very high risk. Many reports have documented a considerable maternal risk of morbidity and mortality and high perinatal adverse outcomes . Previously, several systematic review and meta-analysis of previous observational studies, have quantified this risk. They showed that women with SCD have an increased risk of preeclampsia and maternal death, stillbirths, preterm deliveries, and small-for-gestational-age newborns.

In a new development, lower risk of intrauterine fetal death for those women with sickle cell disease (SCD) who received more transfusions throughout pregnancy, has been noted in a recent study result, published in Hematology, Transfusion, and Cell Therapy.

The aim of this study was to describe maternal and perinatal outcomes in pregnant women with sickle cell disease (SCD) followed at Santa Casa de Sao Paulo over a 10-year period (between 2010 and 2019).

As for the study design,Fifty-five records of pregnancies were analyzed among 35 women with SCD.

Data analysis revealed the following facts.

Among 29 newborns, 19 (65.5%) were full-term and 10 pre-term; 24 (82.7%) caesareans and 5 (17.2%) natural births were observed.
The mean gestational age at birth and mother`s age were 36.6 weeks (30–40) and 26.7 years (17–39), respectively. No maternal death was observed.
The main maternal obstetric and non-obstetric complications were: pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, and vaso-occlusive crisis, urinary tract infection and acute chest syndrome, respectively.
Twenty-six (47.0%) fetal deaths were observed, 24 being intrauterine fetal (14 early abortions, 10 late abortions and 2 stillbirths). Regarding the red blood cell transfusion history, 40 (72.7%) out of 55 pregnancies received transfusion.
Pregnant women who received 6 or more transfusions throughout pregnancy had a significantly lower number of abortions, i.e., no cases of early abortion and only 1 case of late abortion, versus 14 and 9 cases in pregnancies with 0–5 transfusions, respectively.
Despite advances in the management of SCD, pregnant women with SCD (particularly those with HbSS) are at a high risk for maternal and fetal complications, even though they are followed in reference centers.For the full article follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.htct.2020.12.009

Primary source: Hematology, Transfusion, and Cell Therapy.

maternal dietsickle cell disease#pregnancyblood-transfusionshematologytransfusion and cell therapy

Source : Hematology, Transfusion, and Cell Therapy

Dr Satabdi Saha

Dr Satabdi Saha (BDS, MDS) is a practicing pediatric dentist with a keen interest in new medical researches and updates. She has completed her BDS from North Bengal Dental College ,Darjeeling. Then she went on to secure an ALL INDIA NEET PG rank and completed her MDS from the first dental college in the country – Dr R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital. She is currently attached to The Marwari Relief Society Hospital as a consultant along with private practice of 2 years. She has published scientific papers in national and international journals. Her strong passion of sharing knowledge with the medical fraternity has motivated her to be a part of Medical Dialogues.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751