Z Geburtshilfe Neonatol 2013; 217 - Po08_5
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1361437

Development of late onset preeclampsia in association with traffic-related air pollution

M Wu 1, JJ Ries 1, E Proietti 2, S von Felten 3, D Vogt 3, S Hahn 4, I Hoesli 1
  • 1University Hospital Basel, Clinic of Obstetrics and Fetomaternal Medicine, Basel, Switzerland
  • 2University Hospital Bern, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Bern, Switzerland
  • 3University of Basel, Clinical Trial Unit, Basel, Switzerland
  • 4University Hospital Basel, Department of Biomedicine, Basel, Switzerland

Background and objective: Preeclampsia is a serious complication of the second half of pregnancy. Previous clinical studies indicate a potential harmful effect of local air pollution on pregnancy outcome, including an increased risk of preterm delivery and preeclampsia. We analyzed the association between the occurrence of preeclampsia and traffic-related air pollution. We especially stratified preeclampsia into mild/severe and early/late onset subgroups.

Methods: Based on retrospective data from our electronic medical records we selected 50 cases consisting of pregnant women who were treated for preeclampsia in the University Women's Hospital Basel, from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st 2011. These were matched with a healthy control group of pregnant women with trouble-free deliveries according to age, parity and number of fetuses. The densities of freeways and first class main roads, within a radius of 100, 200, 300 and 500 meters around the women's home, were used as proxy indicator of traffic-related air pollution. We compared both case and control groups, as well as each preeclampsia subgroup in terms of their exposure to traffic-related air pollution by Mann-Whitney test.

Results: Late onset preeclampsia cases showed a significantly higher occurrence with density of first class main roads compared to early onset preeclampsia cases, within all distances. Furthermore, late onset preeclampsia cases showed a significantly higher density of sum of freeways and first class main roads within a radius of 100, 200 and 300 meters. No statistical significance was determined for any of the other comparisons.

Conclusion: In our collective of patients, exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk for the development of late onset preeclampsia.