Clinical Characteristics of Mother-Infant Dyad and Placental Pathology in COVID-19 Cases in Predominantly African American Population

Sanket Jani; Suzanne M Jacques; Faisal Qureshi; Girija Natarajan; Sujit Bajaj; Pradeep Velumula; Cindy Agu; Monika Bajaj

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1721673

Clinical Characteristics of Mother-Infant Dyad and Placental Pathology in COVID-19 Cases in Predominantly African American Population

AJP Rep. 2021 Jan;11(1):e15-e20. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1721673. Epub 2021 Feb 1.

Authors

Sanket Jani¹, Suzanne M Jacques², Faisal Qureshi², Girija Natarajan¹, Sujit Bajaj³, Pradeep Velumula⁴, Cindy Agu⁴, Monika Bajaj¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Central Michigan University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan.
² Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Hutzel Women's Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
³ College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan.

Abstract

Objective In this currently evolving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the evidence is scarce about the impact of COVID-19 infection on women in labor and neonates in an inner city African-Americans (AA) population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes and placental pathology in mother-infant dyads in COVID-19 cases. Study Design Retrospective chart review was conducted on 34 COVID-19 positive mother-infant dyads to study their baseline characteristics and outcomes. Placental pathology was reviewed by two perinatal pathologists. Results COVID-19 was noted in 3% of pregnant women who delivered in our institution. The majority (82%) of them were asymptomatic. Out of the four mothers who were symptomatic, only three (9%) required supplemental oxygen. None of them required invasive ventilation. All the neonates tested negative for COVID-19 at 24 hours of age. There were no gross or microscopic pathological abnormalities detected that could be definitely associated with any COVID-19 related complications during pregnancy in any of the 34 placentas. Conclusion COVID-19 does not appear to increase morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and their neonates in a predominantly AA population. Our study did not find any evidence of vertical transmission of COVID-19 infection nor any specific findings on placental pathology. Key Points Majority of women infected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during labor were asymptomatic.None of the newborns tested positive for COVID-19 at 24 hours of age.Placental pathology findings were nonspecific in COVID-19 mothers.

Keywords: Covid-19; perinatal effect; placenta pathology; vertical transmission.

The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).

Grants and funding

Funding None.