Clinical Manifestation, Laboratory Findings and Adverse Outcomes of COVID 19 Infection in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in the West of Iran

Abstract

Background & Objective: Pregnancy is a unique immunological condition in which the immune system is affected and therefore there is a greater risk of severe disease and mortality from COVID-19 disease. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical manifestation, laboratory findings, and adverse outcomes among a population of pregnant women confirmed with COVID 19 infection. Materials & Methods: In present cross-sectional study, all pregnant women with COVID-19 referred to Mousavi Hospital in Zanjan City from February 2020 to August 2021 including 232 patients were examined. We used a researcher-made checklist to extract the required information, including socio-demographic data, potential risk factors, clinical manifestations, laboratory parameters, and fetal, and neonatal outcomes of the patients. Comparison of laboratory parameters in women with COVID-19 according to ICU admission was made using independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: 47.4%, of women were 30 to 40 years old, 45.7% were illiterate. Weakness, myalgia, dry cough, and fatigue were the most common clinical symptoms (>90%). Patients had abnormal levels of ALT and AST, whereas the means of other laboratory parameters were in the normal range. Forty-one (17.6%) of patients were admitted to the ICU. The means of C-reactive protein (46.58 vs. 25.87), lactate dehydrogenase (586.31 vs. 480.97), Blood urea nitrogen (9.43 vs. 8.26), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (62.40 vs. 46.11) were statistically higher in patients admitted to ICU than those who were not in the ICU (P <0.05). Mortality rates among women who had a vaginal delivery and C-section were 3% and 6.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The most common laboratory findings in COVID-19-infected mothers were lymphopenia and elevated CRP, ALT, D-Dimer, and LDH. An increased hospitalization in ICU and higher rates of mother and fetal death were complications of pregnancy and childbirth in COVID-19-infected women.