NEW SARS-COV-2 INFECTION, PREGNANCY AND HYPERBILIRUBINEMIA OF NEWBORNS

Abstract

On the basis of Department of Perinatology of Tbilisi State Medical University First University Clinic, within a framework of retrospective, cohort, targeted study, the medical histories of 23 pregnant women (infected with Sars-CoV-2 at different stages of pregnancy and childbirth) and their newborns were studied in 2022. These 23 newborns were transferred in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), due to hyperbilirubinemia, for the purpose of phototherapy and further monitoring of bilirubin level. As it was determined by data analysis, in 17 out of 23 cases, SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and childbirth were characterized by a moderate or severe duration of infection, and their newborns were diagnosed with hyperbilirubinemia with an unspecified cause, the main risk-factors of hyperbilirubinemia were excluded. Based on our study, it can be assumed that hyperbilirubinemia is a neonatal consequence of SARS-CoV-2, probably cause placental vascular malperfusion and polycythemia in fetuses, which may be a compensatory response to this infection.