The association between chorionic villus sampling and preeclampsia.

Objective: To determine whether an association exists between prenatal diagnostic procedures and preeclampsia.

Methods: All women who underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis and were not at high risk for preeclampsia were identified during a 15-month period and matched by age with women who had not had invasive prenatal diagnosis. The association between prenatal diagnosis [amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS)] and the development of preeclampsia was assessed in univariable and multivariable analyses.

Results: Six-hundred and fifty-three women who underwent prenatal diagnosis (501 by amniocentesis and 152 by CVS) were matched by age with 653 women who did not undergo the test. In multivariable analysis, the factors that remained significantly associated with preeclampsia were (1) maternal age less than 25 years (OR 7.4, 95% CI 23.3-23.6); (2) nulliparity (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-6.9); and (3) having had a CVS as a nulliparous woman (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.4-12.6).

Conclusion: These data suggest that CVS is associated with the subsequent development of preeclampsia in nulliparous women; this relationship should be confirmed in further studies.