Abstract
BackgroundInfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women may be a threat for both mothers and fetuses. This study was performed to explore the impact of maternal HBV carrier status on pregnancy outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study at the Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital of Nantong University between January 1, 2012 and September 30, 2015. A consecutive sample of 21,004 pregnant women, 513 asymptomatic HBV carriers and 20,491 non-HBV controls, was included in this study. The main outcomes of interest were selected pregnancy outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth (PTB), gestational diabetes (GDM), intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), preterm premature rupture of the membrane (PPROM), low birth weight (LBW), small for gestational age (SGA) and Apgar scores. The incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes between asymptomatic HBV carriers and non-HBV controls were compared using the chi-square test and logistic regression. P values were two sided, and P <0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.ResultsThe incidences of stillbirth, PTB, GDM, ICP, PPROM, LBW, and SGA were similar between the HBV carrier and non-HBV groups. The proportion of miscarriage was significantly higher among the HBV carriers than the controls (9.36 % vs 5.70 %; P <0.001). After using multivariate modelling to adjust for possible socio-demographical variables and obstetric complications, women with HBV carrier status were still more likely to have miscarriage (adjusted OR 1.71, 95 % CI 1.23–2.38). In addition, the incidences of other maternal and neonatal outcomes were similar between the two groups.ConclusionMaternal HBV carrier status may be an independent risk factor for miscarriage and careful surveillance is warranted.
Highlights
Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women may be a threat for both mothers and fetuses
HBV carrier status is relatively common among pregnant women, especially in highly endemic countries such as China, there is a paucity of data regarding the impact of maternal HBV infection on the
As part of standard prenatal care at our hospital, all women are screened in the first trimester of pregnancy for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), IgG antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), syphilis tests with the treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TP-PA) and rapid plasma reagin test (RPR), specific IgM antibodies against toxoplasma, rubella virus, CMV and herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1/2
Summary
Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women may be a threat for both mothers and fetuses. This study was performed to explore the impact of maternal HBV carrier status on pregnancy outcomes. HBV carrier status is relatively common among pregnant women, especially in highly endemic countries such as China, there is a paucity of data regarding the impact of maternal HBV infection on the. The limited studies on this issue have always yielded conflicting results [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] Due to this dearth of information, we undertook this hospital-based prospective cohort study, which seeks to examine the association of HBV carrier status with pregnancy outcomes
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