Expectant management in pregnant women with early and severe preeclampsia and concomitant risk factors

Conservative management of early-onset severe preeclampsia: comparison between randomized and observational studies a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To compare maternal and perinatal outcomes between randomized trials and observational studies in which conservative management was performed for more than 48 h in patients with early-onset severe preeclampsia.

METHODOLOGY

We searched PubMed, LILACS, Cochrane and Google Scholar. The studies were divided in two groups: randomized and observational studies, from 1990 to 2018 that included patients with severe preeclampsia before 34 weeks of gestation with pregnancy prolongation ≥48 h but that did not include fetal growth restriction or HELLP syndrome at the beginning. The main variables recorded were maternal and perinatal complications.

MAIN RESULTS

Forty-four studies met the inclusion criteria, and 5 of these were randomized. The average pregnancy prolongation was 9 days, with no difference between groups. Maternal complications were significantly more common in observational studies, RR = 0.71, 95% CI (0.54-0.93), p = .009. Perinatal complications were also significantly more common in observational studies (RR = 0.89, 95% CI (0.80-0.98), p = .01) at the expense of stillbirth and neonatal deaths. The percentages of cesarean sections were significantly higher in randomized studies, RR = 1.54, 95% CI (1.46-1.64). There were 2 maternal deaths, both in observational studies.

CONCLUSION

Observational studies in which conservative management of early-onset preeclampsia is performed and do not include patients with fetal growth restriction or patients with HELLP syndrome and where at least 2 days of pregnancy prolongation is achieved are associated with significantly more maternal and perinatal complications.

An analysis of expectant management in women with early-onset preeclampsia in China

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disorder and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in both women and fetus. Although women with early severe preeclampsia are generally considered to require expedious delivery, expectant management may benefit for pregnancy prolongation. We performed a retrospective analysis of expectant management in early-onset preeclampsia, with or without fetal grow restriction (FGR) over a 6-year period, to investigate whether these women benefit from expectant management. Data including clinical parameters and liver and renal function from 186 nulliparous women with early-onset preeclampsia were analysed. In women with early-onset preeclampsia, 76.8% were delivered after 48 h and the median pregnancy prolongation was 8 days, whereas 23.2% were delivered within 48 h. There was no difference in maternal parameters, liver or renal functions between women in these two groups, regardless of the severity of preeclampsia. However, the stillbirth number was higher in preeclamptic women delivered after 48 h compared with those delivered within 48 h. Our study demonstrates that the decision for immediate delivery or expectant management was not associated with clinical parameter or laboratory biomarker of liver and renal function. However, the risk of stillbirth should still be taken into consideration when making the decision for immediate delivery or expectant management in the clinic.