Perinatal outcomes of twenty-five human immunodeficiency virus-infected pregnant women: Hacettepe University experience

Objective: To evaluate perinatal outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected pregnant women in Turkey. Material and Methods: Maternal characteristics, pregnancy complications, laboratory findings including HIV load, CD4 cell count, CD4/CD8 ratio, neonatal features and final HIV status of the baby were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The sample included 26 singleton pregnancies, from 25 HIV-infected women. The ethnicities were Turkish (n=18), East European (n=4), Asian (n=2) and African (n=2). The majority (76.9%) was aware of their HIV status before becoming pregnant. Four cases (15.3%) were diagnosed during pregnancy and two (7.8%) at the onset of labor. The results for median HIV viral load, CD4 count, and CD4/CD8 ratio at birth were 20 copies/mL (0-34 587), 577/mm(3) (115-977), and 0.7 (0.1-1.9), respectively. The HIV viral load rate was 5.5% in eighteen women taking anti-retroviral treatment. The rates of gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, intrauterine growth restriction, and preterm delivery were 3.8%, 3.8%, 7.6%, and 8% (numbers are 1;1;2;2), respectively. The mean gestational week at birth was 38 weeks and mean birthweight is 2972 +/- 329 g. Two babies were congenitally infected with HIV (infection rate of 8.3%). There was one needle-related accident during surgery. Conclusion: Timely diagnosis of HIV infection during pregnancy is important for preventing mother to child transmission. HIV infected women may give birth to HIV negative babies with the help of a multidisciplinary team, composed of perinatology, infectious diseases, and pediatrics specialists.