J Perinatol

. 2021 Aug 12. doi: 10.1038/s41372-021-01179-3. Online ahead of print . https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34385586/

Hydrops fetalis-trends in associated diagnoses and mortality from 1997-2018

Veeral N Tolia ^1 2 3, R Hunter Clark Jr ⁴, Bezalel Perelmuter ⁵, Joshua A Frankfurt ⁵, Kaashif A Ahmad ^6 7 8, Matthew E Abrams ⁹, Jennifer L Cohen ¹⁰, Reese H Clark ⁶Affiliations expand

• PMID: 34385586
• DOI: 10.1038/s41372-021-01179-3

Abstract

Objectives: To describe and evaluate trends in the etiology and mortality risk in neonates admitted for neonatal intensive care with hydrops fetalis.

Study design: A retrospective review of de-identified patient data in the Pediatrix Clinical Data Warehouse from 1997 to 2018.

Results: We identified 2144 infants diagnosed with hydrops fetalis. The most common diagnoses were congenital heart disease (n = 325, 15.2%), genetic diagnoses (n = 269, 12.5%) and cardiac arrhythmia (n = 176, 8.2%). Of 2144 neonates, 988 (46%) survived to hospital discharge and 775 (36%) died prior to discharge. Mortality rate was highly variable across diagnoses, ranging from 90% in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia to 0% in infants with atrial flutter. Over the study period, more infants were diagnosed with trisomies and fewer with twin-to-twin transfusion. Mortality decreased by 5% from 1997-2007 to 2008-2018.

Conclusions: The risk of death among neonates with hydrops fetalis is highly dependent on the underlying cause, with increasing risk of mortality at lower gestational ages.

© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.