Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia in very low birth weight infants of women with preeclampsia.

Objective: Determine the incidence of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia during the first week of life in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants born to mothers with preeclampsia.

Methods: Medical records of infants born to mothers with preeclampsia admitted to NICU from 2005-2007 were reviewed.

Results: A total of 93 infants were included with a mean birth weight of 988 g and gestational age of 29 weeks. Neutropenia was present in 49% of the infants and thrombocytopenia in 56%. Infants with neutropenia had lower birth weights (p<0.01) and were born at lower gestational ages (p<0.01). Neutropenia was associated to a higher prevalence of positive blood cultures during the first week of life especially coagulase negative organisms.

Conclusions: In this group of VLBW infants born to mothers with preeclampsia, neutropenia was common and it was associated to increase risk of bacterial infections during the first week of life.