COVID19 during pregnancy: a systematic review of reported cases.

Della Gatta, Anna Nunzia; Rizzo, Roberta; Pilu, Gianluigi; Simonazzi, Giuliana

Abstract Objective to conduct a systematic review of the outcomes reported for pregnant patients with COVID 19. Data sources we searched electronically Pubmed, Cinahl, Scopus using combination of keywords “Coronavirus and/ or pregnancy”; “COVID and/or pregnancy”; “COVID disease and/or pregnancy”; “COVID pneumonia and/or pregnancy. There were no restriction of languages in order to collect as much cases as possible. Study eligibility criteria all pregnant women, with a COVID19 diagnosed with acid nucleic test, with reported data about pregnancy and, in case of delivery, reported outcomes. Study appraisal and synthesis methods all the studies included have been evaluated according the tool for evaluating the methodological quality of case reports and case series described by Murad et al. Results 6 studies including 51 women were eligible for the systematic review. Three pregnancies were ongoing at the time of the report; of the remaining 48, 46 were delivered with a cesarean section and 2 vaginally; there was 1 stillbirth and 1 neonatal death. Conclusions although vertical transmission of SARS-Cov2 has been excluded thus far and the outcome for mothers and fetuses has been generally good, the high rate of preterm cesarean delivery is a reason for concern. These interventions were typically elective, and it is reasonable to question whether they were warranted or not. COVID-19 associated with respiratory insufficiency in late pregnancies certainly creates a complex clinical scenario.