Preeclampsia does not increase the risk for culture proven sepsis in very low birth weight infants

The risk of sepsis associated with neutropenia in infants born to mothers w ith preeclampsia remains controversial. The objective of this study is to i nvestigate the incidence of culture-proven sepsis along with changes in the complete blood count in very-low-birth-weight infants born to mothers with preeclampsia. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of infants cared f or at a single tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit during a 4-year p eriod. Infants born to mothers with preeclampsia (n = 88) were compared to infants born to mothers without preeclampsia (n = 416) by univariate and mu ltivariate analysis. Although infants born to mothers with preeclampsia had lower absolute neutrophil and platelet counts throughout the first week of life, they were no more likely to have a platelet count <100,000/mm(3), an d only more likely to be neutropenic at 24 and 72 hr of life compared to in fants born to mothers without preeclampsia. After controlling for potential confounding variables, there was no increase in the odds of culture proven sepsis in infants born to mothers with preeclampsia (odds ratio 1.6, 95% c onfidence intervals 0.7-3.6, p = 0.3) compared to those infants born to mot hers without preeclampsia. We conclude that very-low-birth-weight infants b orn to mothers with preeclampsia are not at increased risk of culture prove n sepsis despite a reduction in absolute neutrophils.