PURPOSE: to describe etiology, evolution and prevalence of hydrops fetalis in a cohort of pregnant women during a period of ten years (1992 to 2002) in a tertiary maternity. METHODS: a retrospective study was carried out in patients referred to the maternity of the Fernandes Figueira Institute, with diagnosis of hydrops fetalis, detected by ultrasonography, during the period from 1992 to 2002. The cases were selected according to etiology (immune or nonimmune) and evolution, performed invasive procedures and survival were compared between both groups. Analysis of variables was performed by Epi-Info 6.0 and a p value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistical significant. RESULTS: in ten years of follow-up, 80 patients with an initial diagnosis of hydrops were attended. The frequency of hydrops in this population was 1 in 157 live births. Rh immunization (immune group) was detected in 13 cases (16.2%), and for 67 cases (83.8%) nonimmune causes (nonimmune group) were considered. Major causes of nonimmune hydrops fetalis were idiopathic (40.2%), genetic (20.8%), infectious diseases (20.7%), and cardiopathy (7.4%). A difference was found in relation to maternal age in the immune group (mean = 32.8 years) when compared with the nonimmune group (mean = 28.7 years) (p=0.03), but gestational age at delivery was similar in both groups (mean = 33.6 weeks in the immune group and 33.1 weeks in the nonimmune group) (p=0.66). Amniocentesis and blood transfusion in utero were carried out more frequently in the immune group (p<0.001) and perinatal mortality was 53.8% in the immune group and 68.6% in the nonimmune group (p=0.47). Complementary research of IgG anti-parvovirus B19 antibodies was carried out in 41 of 67 cases of nonimmune hydrops, with 16 being positive for the presence of anti-B19 IgG antibodies. CONCLUSION: nonimmune etiology was the most common form of presentation of hydrops fetalis in our study. Perinatal mortality of this entity is still high and a substantial number of cases had no identified cause. Characterization of fetal karyotype and performance of specific parvovirus B19 serology could increase causal identification of nonimmune hydrops classified as idiopathic.
Hydrops fetalis; Infection in pregnancy; Parvovirus B19, human; Pregnancy complications, infections; Rh isoimmunization
