A BSTRACT Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in pregnancy leads to various adverse feto-maternal outcomes, and increased cell-free hemoglobin levels in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients may impair vitamin D reclamation. This study aimed to assess the risk association between the adverse feto-maternal outcomes and vitamin D status in pregnant sickle cell–positive cases in the third trimester. Materials and Methods: This observational study included known cases of sickle cell trait (SCT) or SCD pregnant females in the third trimester. Vitamin D status was evaluated, and patients were followed until the delivery. Maternal complications such as hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP), antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage (APH and PPH), and premature rupture of membrane (PROM), and fetal complications such as preterm birth, fetal growth restriction (FGR), and intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) were associated with vitamin D status. Results: A total of 105 patients were included with a mean age of 25.5 years. Subjects were divided on the basis of genotype as SCD (35 subjects) and SCT (70 subjects), and most of them (69 of 105) were with VDD. Primigravida individuals were more with VDD, and HDP was most common maternal complication (30 of 105), and 15/17 in SCT and 10/13 in SCD group with HDP had low vitamin D levels. Similarly, preterm birth was the leading fetal complication (15 of 105) in the population, and 8/10 in SCT and 4/5 in SCD group had vitamin D below the cut-off. Conclusion: Low vitamin D levels in the third trimester of pregnancy were associated with adverse feto-maternal outcomes.
Bajaj et al. (Fri,) studied this question.