Pregnancy risk in female kidney and liver recipients: a retrospective comparative study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare maternal, neonatal and graft outcomes in pregnant women after kidney or liver transplantation, who had delivered from 1 January 2005 to 1 February 2010. METHODS: A retrospective, single-center study provided in Warsaw, Poland. RESULTS: Complete data were collected in 38 deliveries in 37 women. Preexisting hypertension was present in 15 of 19 (79%) pregnant kidney recipients and in 2 of 19 (10.5%) women after liver transplantation (p < 0.000). The incidence of preeclampsia was also more often in pregnant kidney recipients (p = 0.04). Mean gestational age at labor was lower in the kidney group (34.9 ± 3.56 vs. 37.5 ± 1.62, p = 0.000). A similar relation was observed in the frequency of preterm deliveries before 37 weeks of gestation (42% vs. 11%, respectively, p = 0.02) and neonates small for gestational age (47% vs. 11%, respectively, p = 0.008). Cesarean sections were performed in approximately 79% (15/19) and 95% (18/19) liver and kidney posttransplant pregnancies, respectively. Four of 38 infants presented structural malformations. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancies after kidney transplantation are complicated with a higher prevalence of prematurity and worse neonatal prognosis, which depends mainly on the underlying condition.