Asnat Walfisch MD1, Ofer Beharier MD1, Ruslan Sergienko2, Daniella Landau3, and Eyal Sheiner MD PhD1.
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
2Epidemiology and Health Services Evaluation, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
3Department of Pediatrics, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Introduction: We aimed to investigate whether placenta previa increases the risk for long-term morbidity of the term offspring.
Materials and Methods: A population-based cohort study compared the incidence of long-term (up to the age of 18 years) hospitalizations due to cardiovascular, endocrine, neurological, hematological, respiratory and urinary morbidity of offsprings born at term to mothers diagnosed with and without placenta previa. Deliveries occurred between the years 1991-2013. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to compare cumulative morbidity incidences over time. A multivariate generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression model analysis was used to control for confounders and for maternal clusters.
Results: During the study period 233 123 term deliveries met the inclusion criteria; 0.2% (n=502) of the offsprings were born to mothers with placenta previa. Women diagnosed with placenta previa were older, with higher parity, and more likely to have had a previous cesarean delivery compared with controls. The newborns were more likely to be diagnosed with low birth weight (<2500 grams). Perinatal death rates were similar. Long-term morbidity necessitating hospitalization was not significantly different using GEE multivariable logistic regression model (Table).
Using a Kaplan-Meier survival curve, offsprings of mothers with placenta previa did not have a significantly different cumulative incidence of the different morbidities assessed (Figure).
Conclusion: Neonates of mothers diagnosed with placenta previa, and delivered at term, do not appear to be at an increased risk for long-term morbidity up to the age of 18.
| Offspring long-term morbidity | Placenta previa
n=502 |
No placenta previa
n=232 621 |
Adjusted OR | 95% CI | p value |
| Cardiovascular, n=540 | 0.2%
|
0.2% | 0.9 | 0.1-6.1
|
0.880
|
| Endocrine, n=1018 | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.9 | 0.2-3.4 | 0.839 |
| Hematological, n=2312 | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.04 | 0.4-2.5 | 0.928 |
| Neurological, n=2179 | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.7 | 0.2-2.1 | 0.497 |
| Respiratory, n=12 780 | 5.0% | 5.5% | 0.9 | 0.6-1.3 | 0.552 |
| Urinary, n=1512 | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.3 | 0.5-3.5 | 0.625 |
