Umbilical artery Doppler waveform and newborn sepsis in preeclamptic pregnant women

Objective

Although there is data showing that the presence of absent or reversed end-diastolic velocity (AREDV) in umbilical artery Doppler (UAD) of preeclamptic pregnant women increases the risk of neonatal sepsis, no study thoroughly has investigated if this effect is independent from the week of gestation or not. In this study, our aim was to investigate the importance of AREDV for predicting neonatal sepsis during severe preeclampsia.

Methods 

A total of 284 pregnant women who had UAD data for prenatal period and resulted with live births after severe preeclampsia during a five-year period were included in the study. The correlation between AREDV and the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis confirmed by laboratory was evaluated by chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis.

Results

Neonatal sepsis rate was found significantly higher in those with AREDV (n=34) than those without AREDV (n=250) (17.6% vs. 4%, p=0.006). However, it was found that there was no such effect in the logistic regression model where preeclampsia beginning date was included (adjusted odds ratio= 3.07, CI=0.97-9.63, p=0.055).

Conclusion

AREDV presence in preeclamptic pregnant women increases neonatal sepsis risk; however, this correlation seems to be associated with sepsis rate increase in the early-onset disease.

Keywords

Doppler, preeclampsia, sepsis.

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