Respiratory outcomes of late preterm infants of mothers with early and late onset preeclampsia

To study the effect of early and late onset preeclampsia (EOPE, LOPE, respectively) on outcomes of late preterm infants. Cohort study of late preterm infants admitted to a tertiary care NICU from January 2014–July 2015. Outcomes of late preterm infants of EOPE mothers were compared with the next late preterm infant of a LOPE mother and the next two late preterm infants of normotensive non-PE mothers. Primary outcome comprised use of continuous positive airway pressure, mechanical ventilation and/or surfactant in the 24 h after birth. Compared to normotensives (n = 131), adjusted odds ratio (AORs) of the primary outcome was higher in the EOPE (n = 64) and LOPE (n = 65) groups but reached statistical significance only in the EOPE group, AORs 12.9, 95% CI 3.5–37 and 2.7, 95% CI 0.95–8.1, respectively. Compared to late preterm infants of normotensive and LOPE mothers, infants of mothers with EOPE have significantly higher respiratory morbidity.