Short- and long-term outcome of infants born after maternal (pre)-eclampsia, HELLP syndrome and thrombophilia: a retrospective, cohort study

ObjectivesTo investigate the short- and long-term outcome of children born from mothers with pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and/or HELLP syndrome, and to determine the differences between children born from mothers with and without underlying thrombophilic disorder.Study designFour hundred and nine infants (from 370 women) born between February 1991 and January 2006 were eligible for evaluation and were classified into group A (n = 162) and group B (n = 247). Thirty-four infants were not admitted to the hospital. Between-group differences were tested with regard to neonatal mortality, morbidity and follow-up measurements for neuromotor and mental development at 9 months and 2 years of age, using two-tailed Student's t-tests, Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression models.ResultsOf the 409 infants, 44 infants (10.8%; n = 20 group A/n = 24 group B) died. The mean gestational age in both groups was 31.9 (SD: 3.5) weeks. Of the 375 admitted infants 152 (40.5%) were related to a thrombophilic mother and 223 (59.5%) were not. Six children were lost to follow-up. At 9 months and 2 years of age development was assessed in 326 surviving children. At 9 months of age, 193 (59.2%; n = 66 group A/n = 127 group B) children showed a normal (52% group A versus 63.8% group B, P = 0.046), 24 (7.4%; n = 9 group A/n = 15 group B) a suspect and 14 (4.3%; n = 6 group A, n = 8 group B) an abnormal development during follow-up assessment. Ninety-five children (29.1%; n = 46 group A/n = 49 group B) did not have a follow-up assessment. At 2 years of age, 112 children (34.4%; n = 43 group A/n = 69 group B) had a normal, 21 (6.4%; n = 11 group A/n = 10 group B) a suspect and 17 (5.2%; n = 5 group A/n = 12 group B) an abnormal development. 176 children (54%; n = 70 group A/n = 106 group B) did not have a follow-up assessment.ConclusionShort-term outcome was not different between infants from mothers with or without thrombophilic disorders. At 9 months of age, the probability of having a normal development was significantly lower in children born from a mother with an underlying thrombophilic disorder than in those without. At 2 years of age, no differences in development were observed.