Association of severe thrombocytopenia and poor prognosis in pregnancies with aplastic anemia

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 24;9(7):e103066. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103066. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Purpose: We sought to estimate the risks of adverse obstetric outcomes and disease outcomes associated with severe thrombocytopenia in pregnant women with aplastic anemia (AA).

Methods: In a retrospective study, we compared demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory results, and outcomes between severe thrombocytopenia (ST) and non-severe thrombocytopenia (non-ST) groups comprising pregnant women with AA.

Results: Of 61 AA patients, 43 (70%) were diagnosed as AA before pregnancy and 18 (30%) were AA during pregnancy. The ST group exhibited lower gestational age at nadir of platelet count (26.0 versus 37.0 weeks, p<0.001) and at delivery (37.3 versus 39.1 weeks, p = 0.008), and a higher rate of bleeding gums (33.8 versus 7.7%, p = 0.015) than the non-ST group. In addition, the ST group exhibited more transfusions during pregnancy (72.7 versus 15.4%, p<0.001) and postpartum period (45.0 versus 2.7%, p<0.001), and more bone marrow transplant after delivery (25.0 versus 0.0%, p<0.001) than the non-ST group. The ST group had a higher odds ratio of composite disease complications (OR, 9.63; 95% CI, 2.82-32.9; p<0.001) and composite obstetric complications (OR, 6.78; 95% CI, 2.11-21.8; p = 0.001) than the non-ST group.

Conclusions: Severe thrombocytopenia is more associated with obstetric and disease complications than is non-severe thrombocytopenia in pregnant women with AA.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anemia, Aplastic / complications
  • Anemia, Aplastic / diagnosis*
  • Anemia, Aplastic / pathology
  • Anemia, Aplastic / therapy
  • Bone Marrow Transplantation
  • Cesarean Section / statistics & numerical data
  • Delivery, Obstetric / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Gestational Age
  • Humans
  • Odds Ratio
  • Platelet Count
  • Platelet Transfusion
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / diagnosis*
  • Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / pathology
  • Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / prevention & control
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Thrombocytopenia / complications
  • Thrombocytopenia / diagnosis*
  • Thrombocytopenia / pathology
  • Thrombocytopenia / therapy

Grants and funding

The authors have no support or funding to report.