Influence of pre-eclampsia on 2-year neurodevelopmental outcome of very-low-birth-weight infants

ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence of maternal pre-eclampsia on neurodevelopmental outcome in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants at 6, 12, and 24 months of corrected age. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of singleton VLBW infants between 2011 and 2018. The participants were divided into three groups: (1) mothers without pre-eclampsia, (2) pre-eclampsia without severe features, and (3) pre-eclampsia with severe features. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development third edition (BSID-III) was used to assess the neurodevelopment of participants. A BSID-III score < 85 was defined as neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI). ResultsOverall, 482 VLBW infants born to 482 mothers were enrolled, of whom 327 mothers did not have pre-eclampsia and 155 mothers had pre-eclampsia (58 without and 97 with severe features). The infants born to mothers with pre-eclampsia with severe features had the lowest BSID-III scores at 6, 12, and 24 months. After adjustments, maternal pre-eclampsia with severe features was significantly associated with cognitive NDI in their infants (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.14) and language NDI (aOR 3.37) at 2 years of corrected age. ConclusionsVLBW fetuses born to mothers with pre-eclampsia with severe features have poorer 2-year neurodevelopmental outcome, which mainly manifests in the cognitive and language domains.