Beta-thalassemia minor during pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate pregnancy outcome of patients with beta-thalassemia minor.


METHODS
A population-based study comparing all pregnancies of women with and without beta-thalassemia minor was conducted. Deliveries occurred during the years 1988-2002 at Soroka University Medical Center. A multivariate logistic regression model, with backward elimination, was constructed to find independent risk factors associated with maternal beta-thalassemia minor.


RESULTS
During the study period there were 159,195 deliveries, of which 261 (0.2%) occurred in patients with beta-thalassemia minor. The following conditions were significantly associated with beta-thalassemia minor: oligohydramnios (odds ratio [OR] 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2%, 3.7%), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR; OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.4%, 4.2%), Jewish ethnicity (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.2%, 1.9%), and previous cesarean delivery (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.1%, 2.0%). No significant differences were noted between the groups regarding perinatal outcomes such as birth weight, low Apgar scores, congenital malformations, or perinatal mortality. Patients with beta-thalassemia minor were more likely to have cesarean deliveries than were the nonthalassemic parturients (16.9% and 12.2%, respectively; P =.021). However, while controlling for possible confounders such as IUGR, oligohydramnios, and previous cesarean delivery, with another multivariate analysis with cesarean delivery as the outcome variable, beta-thalassemia minor was not found as an independent risk factor for cesarean delivery (OR 1.3; 95% CI 0.9%, 1.9%).


CONCLUSIONS
The course of pregnancy of patients with thalassemia minor, including perinatal outcomes, is favorable. Because higher rates of IUGR were found, we recommend ultrasound surveillance of fetal weight for early detection of IUGR.


METHODS
II-2
Sheiner
Eyal
E
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er-Sheva, Israel. sheiner@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
Levy
Amalia
A
Yerushalmi
Ronit
R
Katz
Miriam
M
D000328:Adult; D018912:Arabs; D002585:Cesarean Section; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007585:Jews; D016015:Logistic Models; D016104:Oligohydramnios / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011250:Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology