When we think that we know all the symptoms that COVID-19 infection can cause to babies and pregnant women, new complications appear that are discovered to be associated with the virus.
A team from the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona has detected two cases of fetuses that present skin edema in pregnant women infected by coronavirus and that seems to be caused by the virus. Fortunately, researchers have found that edema disappears when the mother recovers from COVID-19.
Impact of the virus on fetuses
Some virus infections, such as cytomegalovirus or Zika virus, are associated with problems in pregnancy or abnormalities in the fetus. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the risk posed by the infection of the mother in the developing fetus is still unknown. Therefore, to study this risk, researchers from the Maternal and Fetal Medicine and Pediatric Intensive Care Units and the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Services of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, decided to follow up 31 pregnant women with COVID-19 . In 6.5% of them they observed skin edema in the fetus.
As described in the study, published in the journal ‘Obstetrics & Gynecology’, one of the cases was a woman with Covid-19 pneumonia. At week 23 of gestation, skin edema was observed in the fetus, with no other complications. The other woman was diagnosed with mild COVID and did not have to be hospitalized. Fetal edema appeared at week 21 of gestation.
In both women, fetal edema persisted during the pregnant woman’s illness, so Dr. Carlota Rodó, a specialist in the Obstetrics Service and investigator of the study, points out:
“We see a correlation between edema and SARS-CoV-2 infection, since when the women recovered from COVID-19, the edema also disappeared and the fetuses did not have any other complications.”
To determine if there was SARS-CoV-2 infection in the fetuses, the researchers performed PCR testing of the amniotic fluid. It was also checked whether there were factors related to inflammation. In none of the babies was infection with the virus detected.
Dr. Rodó explains that taking into account these relevant findings, although the results of the study are not sufficient to conclude that fetal edema is a complication related to COVID-19, “it is advisable to follow up pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV -2 to understand the impact that the virus can have on the fetus ”.
Via | Hebron Valley
Photo | iStock
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