Research Article

The Fetal Safety of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers

Table 3

Pregnancy outcomes following exposure to ACE/ARBs or other antihypertensives as compared to a healthy comparator group.

CharacteristicACE/ARB exposed ( a)Other antihypertensives ( b)Healthy nonexposed ( ) value

Fetal outcome
 Livebirth
 Spontaneous abortion
 Elective abortion
 Fetal death
108 (77.7%)
25 (18.0%)
6 (4.3%)
0
105 (93.7%)
4 (8.9%)
0
3 (2.7%)
120 (88.2%)
16 (11.8%)
0
0
<0.001
Gestational age at birth ( ) <0.001
Delivery
 Vaginal
 Cesarean section
62/108 (57.4%)
46/108 (42.6%)
57/106 (53.8%)
49/106 (46.2%)
83/120 (69.1%)
37/120 (30.8%)
0.045
Preterm delivery
 No
 Yes
81/108 (75%)
27/108 (25%)
79/105 (75.2%)
26/105 (24.8%)
117/120 (97.5%)
3/120 (2.5%)
<0.001
Birth weight ( ) <0.001
Sex
 Male59 (54.6%)49 (46.6%)57 (47.5%)0.43
Fetal malformations
 Yes2/108 (1.8%)2/105 (1.9%)2/120 (1.6%)0.99

aIncluding 1 twin pregnancy.
bIncluding 2 twin pregnancies.
Fetal malformations are reported as a proportion of liveborn (in the ACE/ARB group-1 choanal atresia and 1 hypospadias, in the other antihypertensives group-1 unspecified heart murmur and 1 undescended testicle, in the health unexposed group-1 Down’s syndrome and 1 inguinal hernia).