The Association of Placental Abruption and Pediatric Neurological Outcome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Placental histopathology provides insights, or “snapshots”, into relevant antenatal factors that could elevate the risk of perinatal brain injury. We present a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing frequencies of adverse neurological outcomes in infants born to women with placental abruption versus without abruption. Records were sourced from MEDLINE, Embase, and the CENTRAL Trials Registry from 1946 to December 2019. Studies followed the PRISMA guidelines and compared frequencies of neurodevelopmental morbidities in infants born to pregnant women with placental abruption (exposure) versus women without placental abruption (comparator). The primary endpoint was cerebral palsy. Periventricular and intraventricular (both severe and any grades of IVH) and any histopathological neuronal damage were the secondary endpoints. Study methodologic quality was assessed by the Ottawa–Newcastle scale. Estimated odds ratios (OR) and hazards ratio (HR) were derived according to study design. Data were meta-analyzed using a random effects model expressed as pooled effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals. We included eight observational studies in the review, including 1245 infants born to women with placental abruption. Results of the random effects meta-analysis show that the odds of infants born to pregnant women with placental abruption who experience cerebral palsy is higher than in infants born to pregnant women without placental abruption (OR 5.71 95% CI (1.17, 27.91); I2 = 84.0%). There is no statistical difference in the odds of infants born to pregnant women with placental abruption who experience severe IVH (grade 3+) (OR 1.20 95% CI (0.46, 3.11); I2 = 35.8%) and any grade of IVH (OR 1.20 95% CI (0.62, 2.32); I2 = 32.3%) vs. women without placental abruption. There is no statistically significant difference in the odds of infants born to pregnant women with placental abruption who experience PVL vs. pregnant women without placental abruption (OR 6.51 95% CI (0.94, 45.16); I2 = 0.0%). Despite our meta-analysis suggesting increased odds of cerebral palsy in infants born to pregnant women with placental abruption versus without abruption, this finding should be interpreted cautiously, given high heterogeneity and overall poor quality of the included studies.