Introduction:
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory virus caused by
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first
discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019 after several citizens
developed symptoms of atypical pneumonia. The novel coronavirus was
quick to spread throughout China and the world, research is still
developing regarding its transmission and pathophysiology. On January
19, 2020 the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was documented in the
United States in Washington State1 and in March 2020
the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a worldwide
pandemic.2
As more individuals have become infected with COVID-19, more information
has surfaced regarding symptomatology and associated lab abnormalities.
One association that is seen in varying degree is transaminitis in
COVID-19 positive patients.3 Currently, there is
limited literature describing how transaminitis may be an important
predictor of clinical outcomes in pregnant patients diagnosed with
COVID-19. Additionally, patients who experience these laboratory
abnormalities often begin to experience deterioration in their clinical
status suggested by an increase in oxygen requirement, increasing
respiratory rate, need for intubation, need for urgent delivery and ICU
admission.4
The purpose of this retrospective case series is to better understand
the relationship between transaminitis and maternal and neonatal
outcomes in pregnant patients infected with COVID-19. Establishing an
association between these factors can provide physicians with insight
into the predictive power of these laboratory abnormalities for clinical
disease progression.