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.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
October 2,
2010
Received:
June 25,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
