1. Association of SARS-CoV-2 placental histopathology findings with maternal-fetal comorbidities and severity of COVID-19 hypoxia
- Author
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Jessica A. Meyer, Meghana Limaye, Tracy B. Grossman, Christina A. Penfield, Abdallah Flaifel, Ashley S. Roman, Michelle J. Vaz, and Kristen Thomas
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Placental histopathology ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Placenta ,Physiology ,Disease ,Comorbidity ,Necrosis ,Pregnancy ,medicine ,Maternal fetal ,Humans ,Pregnancy Complications, Infectious ,Hypoxia ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,fungi ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,COVID-19 ,Hypoxia (medical) ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Histopathology ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is known to impact multiple organ systems, with growing data to suggest the potential for placental infection and resultant pathology. Understanding how maternal COVID-19 disease can affect placental histopathology has been limited by small study cohorts with mild disease, review by multiple pathologists, and potential confounding by maternal-fetal comorbidities that can also influence placental findings. This study aims to identify pathologic placental findings associated with COVID-19 disease and severity, as well as to distinguish them from changes related to coexisting maternal-fetal comorbidities.This is an observational study of 61 pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who delivered and had a placental histological evaluation at NYU Langone Health between March 19, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Primary outcomes were the prevalence of placental histopathologic features and their association with maternal-fetal comorbidities and severity of COVID-19 related hypoxia. Analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test andSixty-one placentas were included in the study cohort, 71% from pregnancies complicated by at least one maternal-fetal comorbidity. Twenty-five percent of placentas were small for gestational age and 77% exhibited at least one feature of maternal vascular malperfusion. None of the histopathologic features in the examined placentas were associated with the presence of any specific maternal-fetal comorbidity. Thirteen percent of the cohort required maternal respiratory support for COVID-19 related hypoxia. Villous trophoblast necrosis was associated with maternal supplemental oxygen requirement (67In pregnancies complicated by COVID-19 disease, there was a high prevalence of placental histopathologic changes identified, particularly features of maternal vascular malperfusion, which could not be attributed solely to the presence of maternal-fetal comorbidities. The significantly increased prevalence of villous trophoblast necrosis in women needing respiratory support suggests a connection to the severity of COVID-19 illness.
- Published
- 2021