Does marriage between first cousins have any predictive value for maternal and perinatal outcomes in pre-eclampsia?

OBJECTIVE

To assess the consequences of consanguineous unions between first cousins on the severity of pre-eclampsia and associated perinatal morbidity.

METHODS

Six hundred and eighty-six women admitted with a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia were included. The study group consisted of 62 preeclamptic women with a union between first cousins. The remaining patients admitted throughout the same period (n = 624) served as controls. The groups were compared regarding the presence of severe pre-eclampsia, hemolysis elevated liver enzymes low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, eclampsia, placental abruption, hematological complications, renal failure, requirement for antihypertensive or magnesium sulfate treatments, cesarean section for acute fetal distress, birthweight, Apgar scores, perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity including admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, convulsions, intracranial hemorrhage, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, and jaundice. Student's t-test, chi(2)-test and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical evaluation.

RESULTS

Univariate analysis yielded significant differences in parity (P = 0.034), maternal platelet counts (P = 0.02), and maternal serum potassium levels (P = 0.016) among the groups. Respiratory distress syndrome was more frequent (P = 0.043) in infants of unrelated couples. Multivariate analysis, controlling for the confounding factors, revealed that marriages between first cousins had no effect on any of our outcome variables including neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

Third-degree consanguinity in terms of a union between first cousins seems to have no effect on the development of maternal and perinatal complications in established pre-eclampsia.