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. 2022 Nov;61(6):1021-1026.
doi: 10.1016/j.tjog.2022.03.047. Epub 2022 Sep 19.

The influence of COVID-19 pandemic on intrauterine fetal demise and possible vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Doğa Fatma Öcal  1 , Filiz Halıcı Öztürk  2 , Selvi Aydın Şenel  2 , Selcan Sinaci  2 , Fatma Didem Yücel Yetişkin  2 , Can Keven  2 , Bedia Dinç  3 , Ezgi Turgut  2 , Deniz Oluklu  2 , Özlem Moraloğlu Tekin  4 , Dilek Şahin  4
Affiliations

The influence of COVID-19 pandemic on intrauterine fetal demise and possible vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Doğa Fatma Öcal et al. Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: The impact of COVID-19 on intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD) and vertical transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 from the mother to the fetus are crucial issues of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the current study, we aimed to detect the pandemic's influence on the IUFD and evaluate the vertical transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 through analysis of placental tissues collected from PCR positive women with IUFD above 20 weeks of gestation.

Materials and methods: The pregnant women above 20 weeks of gestation and had a fetus intrauterine demised during pandemic were included in the study. The pregnant women screened for COVID-19. Vertical transmission searched from placental tissues of COVID-19 positive women by RT-PCR tests for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The number of IUFD before the pandemic and during the pandemic compared to assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the IUFD ratio.

Results: Among 138 pregnant women with IUFD, 100 of them could screen for COVID-19 status. RT-PCR test results of 6 of the screened pregnant women were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Placental tissues of these six women were analyzed, and one test result was positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The IUFD ratio was significantly increased during the pandemic.

Conclusion: It is clear that COVID-19 increases the IUFD ratio. Previous data for vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the second trimester is limited. We present the third case of literature that has positive placental results for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Placenta; SARS-CoV-2; Second trimester; Vertical transmission.

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