Abstract

Objective: To find out whether there is a benefit in aspirin prophylaxis for alleviating the adverse outcomes of preeclampsia even if it would not prevent the disease. Preeclampsia is one of the major complications of pregnancy, which has life-long consequences for the mother and the baby. For the past few decades, aspirin prophylaxis has taken attention as a prevention method. However, it does not ensure the prevention of the disease. This study investigated whether aspirin still has a beneficial effect in easing the clinic even if it does not prevent the disease.

Methods: This retrospective study includes 541 preeclamptic patients in a tertiary center. The patients were allocated into two groups: Those who took aspirin prophylaxis during pregnancy (study group) and those who didn’t (control group). Maternal clinical parameters, complications of preeclampsia, and fetal/neonatal outcomes were compared between the groups.

Results: No significant difference was found in clinical parameters suggesting preeclampsia with severe features. HELLP syndrome was significantly higher in the study group. Maternal complications like eclampsia, renal failure, pulmonary edema, disseminated intravascular coagulation, abruptio placenta, and transfusion of blood products didn’t differ between the groups. Neonatal outcomes were significantly worse in the study group.

Conclusion: In this study, aspirin was not found to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in an already established preeclampsia clinic. However, the imbalance in maternal baseline risk profile remarkably affected the results. Future studies with larger sample sizes and groups with comparable risk profiles should be conducted.