Pregnant women with acute respiratory distress syndrome triggered by COVID-19

Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2024 Jan 16;144(1). doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.23.0615. Print 2024 Jan 23.
[Article in English, Norwegian]

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women with COVID-19 are probably at increased risk of serious illness. The objective of this study was to describe the course of illness in pregnant women admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with acute respiratory distress syndrome triggered by COVID-19.

Material and method: Pregnant women with COVID-19 were registered on admission to an ICU at Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital in the period March 2020 to May 2023. We reviewed the patients' medical records retrospectively and describe clinical trajectories, management parameters and laboratory data collected during the period in intensive care. Self-perceived health was surveyed 15 months after discharge from intensive care.

Results: Thirteen pregnant women were admitted in the period from February to December 2021. All met criteria for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and were treated with corticosteroids and mechanical ventilation according to current guidelines. None of the patients had been vaccinated against COVID-19. Ten patients were orally intubated after therapeutic failure with non-invasive mechanical ventilation. One patient was treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). All patients survived their stay in intensive care, but there were two cases of intrauterine fetal demise. Almost half of the patients reported moderate to significantly reduced self-perceived health and quality of life 15 months after discharge from intensive care.

Interpretation: All pregnant women admitted to an ICU at Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital with ARDS triggered by COVID-19 survived hospitalisation, but several had symptoms that persisted long after their stay in the ICU.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / complications
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnant Women
  • Quality of Life
  • Respiratory Distress Syndrome* / etiology
  • Respiratory Distress Syndrome* / therapy
  • Retrospective Studies