Maternal-fetal correlations in patients with severe preeclampsia/eclampsia.

A prospective pair-controlled study of maternal, cord blood, and neonatal hematologic findings was done in 50 severely preeclamptic/eclamptic and 50 well-matched normotensive pregnancies. There were no neonatal complications in mature infants. Neonatal complications were similar in premature infants of both study and control group; however, neonatal deaths were higher in the study group. In the study group, there was a poor correlation between maternal and cord blood hematocrit (r = .07), platelet count (r = .11), and fibrinogen (r = .05). In addition, there was no correlation (r = .06) between maternal and cord blood thrombocytopenia. Within each subgroup, abnormal neonatal hematologic findings were usually associated with fetal growth retardation, perinatal asphyxia, acidosis, sepsis, or intracranial hemorrhage. The present findings suggest that abnormal hematologic findings described in neonates of severely preeclamptic/eclamptic pregnancies are the result of associated neonatal complications, rather than a direct consequence of preeclampsia.