Tissue bank needs more amniotic membranes, which are used for eye reconstructions
26 April 2021
An international study in which researchers from the Lozano Blesa Clinical Hospital belonging to the IIS Aragón participated demonstrates that COVID-19 increases the risk of complications during pregnancy
26 April 2021
The purpose is to find out if there is transmission to the fetus and what happens during pregnancy. Since the start of the pandemic they have collected 150 and in a few weeks there will be results
The Clinical Hospital of Zaragoza has started an investigation through the placentas of mothers who have had Covid during pregnancy with the aim of finding, among other things, if there is a vertical transmission of the virus to the fetus. The project, developed by a professional group from the Health Research Institute (IIS) of Aragon, involves health workers from the Clinic's Gynecology and Obstetrics service who, since the pandemic began, have already recruited 150 placentas. "10% of the pregnant women we have treated have been infected," says Daniel Orós, a gynecologist at this hospital.
The samples collected so far are already in the laboratory and "in a few weeks" there could be results. «The placenta is where everything happens during pregnancy and analyzing a biopsy gives us a lot of information. It is something we already do, for example, when premature children are born in order to know what has happened," says Orós. In the case of covid, this team has already found the virus in several placentas of infected mothers. "We have seen some vertical transmission, because we have had neonates who, without being in contact with their parents, have tested positive for PCR," says Orós. «Despite everything, there are still many gaps and things to be defined. We have taken a step, but we must define even more things derived from covid in pregnancy," he said.
The consent on the part of the mothers has been "practically 100%" when it comes to giving up this membrane. «At the beginning of the health crisis we hardly got placentas because there were almost no infections among pregnant women, who did not go out much and there was also the confinement. Starting in June, when we resumed a more social life, there were more infected people,” says Orós.
Preeclampsia cases
The placenta is thrown away once it is expelled, but in terms of research it is something very valuable, for example, to find out if there is a relationship between covid and the cases of preeclampsia (high blood pressure) that have been seen in many pregnant women these months.
«It is common in 3% of pregnant women, but in those who have been infected it has risen to 15%. It is something striking that, through the placenta, we can investigate. This can help us develop more specific treatments during pregnancy," explained Orós. «We have been learning as the health crisis has evolved. For example, one of the recommendations was to administer heparin to pregnant women with covid to avoid blood clots," he noted.
Their way of acting is very fast, since the sooner they obtain the samples the better. At the time of delivery they also take a part of the umbilical cord. "In the period of time until the placenta detaches, we fill two tubes with cord blood, which also contains a lot of information," explained the doctor.
Covid has given them another line of work that, at the same time, they have continued to combine with their daily work. «Our insurance, so to speak, is that for a few years we have hired people and the collaboration of the entire service. Even so, It has been complicated and we have had a hard time, because in March there was little option to investigate. This is one more addition to our work that we take on as a challenge,” said Orós.
