Fetal neurosonography in pregnant women recovering from COVID-19 disease

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of severe acute respiratory virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on fetal neurodevelopment in pregnant women.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included 54 pregnant women at least 4 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 infection and 58 controls. In the third trimester, the depths of the fetal insula, Sylvian, parieto-occipital, and calcarine fissures, the length of cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), and the thickness of the corpus callosum (CC) were measured. Sylvian fissure operculization and cortical development were graded. The correlation analysis between fetal cortical development and Sylvian fissure operculization was performed with the Pearson test.

Results: The calcarine fissure depth and CC thickness were reduced in the study group (P < 0.001, P = 0.004). The fetal CSP length and ratio were increased in the study group (P = 0.016, P = 0.039). Approximately half of the study group fetuses had grade 4 or less Sylvian fissure operculization. The study group had a significantly higher rate of fetuses with grade 2 (31.5% vs. 13.8%) and significantly lower rate of fetuses with grade 4 cortical development (14.8% vs. 31.0%), compared with the controls. There was a moderate negative significant correlation between pregnant women recovering from COVID-19 and fetal cortical development and Sylvian fissure operculization (P = 0.001).

Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate fetal cortical development in pregnant women recovering from COVID-19. The results indicate that COVID-19 disease may affect fetal neurodevelopment.

Keywords: COVID-19; calcarine; cavum septum pellucidumcorpus callosum; fetal cortical development; insula.