Neutropenia occurs often among the newborns of women with hypertension, but its cause, mechanism, and clinical consequences have not been adequately studied. Of 72 infants whose mothers had hypertension during pregnancy, 35 (49 percent) had neutropenia, which persisted from 1 hour to 30 days. The disorder was more prevalent among newborns whose growth had been retarded in utero (P less than 0.01), those who had been delivered prematurely (P less than 0.001), and those whose mothers had had severe hypertension (P less than 0.002) or hypertension and the HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets) (P less than 0.01). Kinetic investigations of circulating, marginated, storage, and proliferative neutrophils and their progenitors suggested that the neutropenia was the result of diminished neutrophil production. Noscomial infections occurred during the first 2 1/2 weeks of life in eight (23 percent) of the newborns with neutropenia, but in only one (3 percent) of those without this disorder (P less than 0.01). We conclude that the neonatal neutropenia associated with maternal hypertension is due to transiently reduced neutrophil production and is associated with an increased risk of noscomial infection. Its basic cause remains unknown.
Source Information
Division of Human Development and Aging, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City 84132.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Black, L. V., Maheshwari, A.
(2009). Immune-mediated Neutropenia in the Neonate. NeoReviews
10: e446-e453
[Abstract][Full Text]
Moallem, M., Koenig, J. M.
(2009). Preeclampsia and Neonatal Neutropenia. NeoReviews
10: e454-e459
[Abstract][Full Text]
Ermis, B., Yaman, Y., Taspinar, O.
(2005). Index of suspicion in the nursery. NeoReviews
6: e241-e243
[Full Text]
Maheshwari, A., Christensen, R. D.
(2004). Neutropenia in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. NeoReviews
5: e431-e443
[Full Text]
Omar, S. A., Salhadar, A., Wooliever, D. E., Alsgaard, P. K.
(2000). Late-Onset Neutropenia in Very Low Birth Weight Infants. Pediatrics
106: 55e-55
[Abstract][Full Text]
Sreenan, C., Osiovich, H.
(1999). Myeloid Colony-Stimulating Factors: Use in the Newborn. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
153: 984-988
[Abstract][Full Text]
Carr, R., Modi, N., Doré, C. J., El-Rifai, R., Lindo, D.
(1999). A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Prophylactic Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor in Human Newborns Less Than 32 Weeks Gestation. Pediatrics
103: 796-802
[Abstract][Full Text]
Kocherlakota, P., La Gamma, E. F.
(1998). Preliminary Report: rhG-CSF May Reduce the Incidence of Neonatal Sepsis in Prolonged Preeclampsia-associated Neutropenia. Pediatrics
102: 1107-1111
[Abstract][Full Text]
Schibler, K. R., Osborne, K. A., Leung, L. Y., Le, T. V., Baker, S. I., Thompson, D. D.
(1998). A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor Administration to Newborn Infants With Neutropenia and Clinical Signs of Early-onset Sepsis. Pediatrics
102: 6-13
[Abstract][Full Text]
Brus, F., van Oeveren, W., Okken, A., Oetomo, S. B.
(1997). Number and Activation of Circulating Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes and Platelets Are Associated with Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome Severity. Pediatrics
99: 672-680
[Abstract][Full Text]
Carr, R., Modi, N.
(1997). Haemopoietic colony stimulating factors for preterm neonates. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.
76: 128F-133
[Full Text]
Roberts, R. L., Szelc, C. M., Scates, S. M., Boyd, M. T., Soderstrom, K. M., Davis, M. W., Glaspy, J. A.
(1991). Neutropenia in an Extremely Premature Infant Treated With Recombinant Human Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
145: 804-807
[Abstract]
