Yan J, Guo J, Fan C, Juan J, Yu X, Li J, Feng L, Li C, Chen H, Qiao Y, Lei D, Wang C, Xiong G, Xiao F, He W, Pang Q, Hu X, Wang S, Chen D, Zhang Y, Poon LC, Yang H. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnant women: A report based on 116 cases. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Apr 23. pii: S0002-9378(20)30462-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2020.04.014.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global public health emergency. Data on the effect of COVID-19 in pregnancy are limited to small case series.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes in pregnancy and the vertical transmission potential of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

STUDY DESIGH: Clinical records were retrospectively reviewed for 116 pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia from 25 hospitals in China between January 20 and March 24, 2020. Evidence of vertical transmission was assessed by testing for SARS-CoV-2 in amniotic fluid, cord blood, and neonatal pharyngeal swab samples.

RESULTS: The median gestational age on admission was 38+0 (IQR 36+0-39+1) weeks. The most common symptoms were fever (50.9%, 59/116) and cough (28.4%, 33/116); 23.3% (27/116) patients presented without symptoms. Abnormal radiologic findings were found in 96.3% (104/108) of cases. There were eight cases (6.9%, 8/116) of severe pneumonia but no maternal deaths. One of eight patients (1/8) that presented in the first- and early-second-trimester had a missed spontaneous abortion. Twenty-one of 99 patients (21.2%, 21/99) that had delivered had preterm birth, including six with preterm premature ruptured of membranes. The rate of spontaneous preterm birth before 37 weeks was 6.1% (6/99). There was one case of severe neonatal asphyxia that resulted in neonatal death. Eighty-six of the 100 neonates that had testing for SARS-CoV-2 had negative results, of these ten neonates had paired amniotic fluid and cord blood samples that were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion and spontaneous preterm birth. There is no evidence of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection when the infection manifests during the third-trimester of pregnancy.