title: Do pregnant women have improved outcomes after traumatic brain injury?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pregnant women, who have significantly elevated levels of estrogen and progesterone, might benefit from the neuroprotective effect of steroid hormones.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pregnant patients were identified and compared with their nonpregnant counterparts with respect to demographics and outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 18,800 female, moderate to severe TBI patients, 71 were pregnant. Similar mortalities were noted in pregnant and nonpregnant TBI patients (9.9% vs 9.3%, P = .84). Adjusting for confounding variables, pregnant TBI patients had a trend toward increased mortality (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], .9-5.1; P = .07). In patients aged 15 to 47 years (n = 8,854), similar mortalities were noted in pregnant and nonpregnant TBI patients (9.9% vs 6.8%, P = .34). After adjusting for risk factors, again there was a trend toward increased mortality in the pregnant TBI group (AOR = 2.0; 95% CI, .8-4.6; P = .12).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnant patients with moderate to severe TBI show no statistically significant difference in mortality compared with their nonpregnant counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
authors.forename: Cherisse
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ley
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mirocha
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Margulies
authors.forename: Areti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tillou
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D011374:Progesterone