[Pregnancy in women infected with the hepatitis C virus]

The prevalence of HCV-RNA positivity in pregnant women goes from 1.2% to 4.5% in different countries. The aim of our study is to show pregnancy outcome, vertical/perinatal transmission rate, the viral load and the tramnsaminases trend during pregnancy and after delivery. The study involved 11,681 pregnant women screened in the Obstetric Department for High Risk Pregnancy at the University of Padua between 1992 and 1999. We evaluated the markers of HCV, HBV, HIV, the viral load and genotype and AST/ALT in the mothers and positivity and viral load of HCV-RNA in the newborns at birth and at 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th month. Of the 11,681 pregnant women, 135 (1.15%) tested positive for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and of the 135 anti-HCV antibody-positive mothers, 80 were found to be positive for HCV-RNA. Of 80 pregnancies that were HCV-RNA positive, 4 termined in abortion, 1 in stillborn, 1 in neonatal death, 18 in preterm delivery and 56 were carried to term. We came to the conclusion that HCV infection does not increase the risk of obstetric complications and does not influence the fetal-neonatal status at delivery; the pregnancy evolution may be complicated by the onset of cholestatsis in the 2nd and 3rd trimester; vertical transmission of the infection develops in few cases (4.8%), more likely at delivery.