Perinatal outcome in HIV-infected pregnant women

We have observed 74 HIV-seropositive and 48 HIV-seronegative drug-addicted women and 22 HIV-seropositive nondrug-addicted pregnant women during pregnancy and we report their perinatal outcome. 8 out of 96 HIV-seropositive patients had hematological signs of immunodeficiency and 2 of these patients were symptomatic belonging to CDC class III. We recorded 2 early and 3 late spontaneous abortions, no intrauterine fetal death and 3 neonatal deaths. Seropositive patients had 3 malformed babies, seronegative patients had 1. All these women had a high incidence of premature delivery and intrauterine fetal growth retardation: seropositive patients had a higher incidence of fetuses small for gestational age and a lower incidence of preterm delivery compared to seronegative patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. The incidence of malformation was comparable to the general population: 3 malformed babies were born to HIV-positive drug-addicted mothers, and 1 to a seronegative drug-addicted mother. These findings do not support the hypothesis of a direct detrimental effect of HIV on perinatal outcome. Consequences of fetal exposure to maternal HIV infection involve mostly postnatal life and development of acquired immunodeficiency.