Planned delivery or expectant management in preeclampsia: an individual participant data meta-analysis.

<bold>Objective: </bold>Pregnancy hypertension is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Between 34+0 and 36+6 weeks gestation, it is uncertain whether planned delivery could reduce maternal complications without serious neonatal consequences. In this individual participant data meta-analysis, we aimed to compare planned delivery to expectant management, focusing specifically on women with preeclampsia.<bold>Data Sources: </bold>We performed an electronic database search using a prespecified search strategy, including trials published between January 1, 2000 and December 18, 2021. We sought individual participant-level data from all eligible trials.<bold>Study Eligibility Criteria: </bold>We included women with singleton or multifetal pregnancies with preeclampsia from 34 weeks gestation onward.<bold>Methods: </bold>The primary maternal outcome was a composite of maternal mortality or morbidity. The primary perinatal outcome was a composite of perinatal mortality or morbidity. We analyzed all the available data for each prespecified outcome on an intention-to-treat basis. For primary individual patient data analyses, we used a 1-stage fixed effects model.<bold>Results: </bold>We included 1790 participants from 6 trials in our analysis. Planned delivery from 34 weeks gestation onward significantly reduced the risk of maternal morbidity (2.6% vs 4.4%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.98) compared with expectant management. The primary composite perinatal outcome was increased by planned delivery (20.9% vs 17.1%; adjusted risk ratio, 1.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.47), driven by short-term neonatal respiratory morbidity. However, infants in the expectant management group were more likely to be born small for gestational age (7.8% vs 10.6%; risk ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.99).<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Planned early delivery in women with late preterm preeclampsia provides clear maternal benefits and may reduce the risk of the infant being born small for gestational age, with a possible increase in short-term neonatal respiratory morbidity. The potential benefits and risks of prolonging a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia should be discussed with women as part of a shared decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]