Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pregnant Women at the University Hospital of Neiva in Southern Colombia: Cases Report

Abstract

Between September and November 2020, four pregnant women under 35 years of age were diagnosed with pneumonia and severe preeclampsia. The patients required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Paraclinical tests showed increased C-reactive protein and lactate dehydrogenase, lymphopenia, and a reduced neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio. One newborn was positive for SARS-CoV-2. Three mothers and one newborn died. Preeclampsia has been associated with COVID-19 in pregnant women. The high mortality found and the vertical transmission in one case are noteworthy. In conclusion, the development of severe preeclampsia in all cases may have been an additional factor contributing to the fatal outcome in 3 of them. It is suggested that lymphopenia and the reduced neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio may be useful as prognostic factors. Future studies will help elucidate the consequences of COVID-19 in pregnancy.

Keywords

• covid-19
• pregnancy
• pre-eclampsia
• respiratory tract infections