Associations between hyperthyroidism and adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes: A study of a population database including almost 17,000 women with hyperthyroidism.

OBJECTIVE

Large population-based studies on maternal hyperthyroidism's effect on antepartum, intrapartum, and neonatal complications are few. Most of these studies were small or did not evaluate a broad scope of possible complications. Therefore, a large population-based cohort study was conducted to study the associations between maternal hyperthyroidism and pregnancy and perinatal complications.

DESIGN

This is a retrospective population-based cohort study utilizing data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample over 11 years from 2004 to 2014.

PATIENTS

16,984 deliveries to women with hyperthyroidism and 9,079,804 deliveries to mothers who did not suffer of hyperthyroidism.

METHODS

A cohort of all deliveries between 2004 and 2014 inclusively was created. Within this group, all deliveries to women with hyperthyroidism were the study group (n = 16,984) and the remaining deliveries were categorized as nonhyperthyroidism births and comprised the reference group (n = 9,079,804). The main outcome measures were pregnancy and perinatal complications.

RESULTS

Maternal hyperthyroidism was associated with several pregnancy and perinatal complications, including increased risks of gestational hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.236, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.045-1.462, p = .013) and preeclampsia (aOR: 1.190, 95% CI: 1.006-1.408, p = .042). These patients are more likely to experience preterm premature rupture of membranes (aOR: 1.322, 95% CI: 1.007-1.735, p = .044), preterm delivery (aOR: 1.287 95% CI: 1.132-1.465, p < .001), placental previa (aOR: 1.527, 95% CI: 1.082-2.155, p = .016), and suffer from venous thromboembolism (aOR: 2.894, 95% CI: 1.293-6.475, p = .010). As for neonatal outcomes, small for gestational age and stillbirth were more likely to occur in the offspring of women with hyperthyroidism (aOR: 1.688, 95% CI: 1.437-1.984, p < .001 and aOR: 1.647, 95% CI: 1.109-2.447, p = .013, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Women with hyperthyroidism are more likely to experience pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal complications. We found an association between hyperthyroidism and hypertensive disorders, preterm delivery, and intrauterine fetal death.