Developments in Brief : Aspirin Found to Help Fetal Growth Problems

Aspirin may be a remedy for a circulatory imbalance that causes the stunting of fetal growth and toxemia, a condition of high blood pressure and fluid retention in pregnant women, a Dutch researcher reported.

Research has shown that a daily, low dose of aspirin may reverse the imbalance of substances that regulate dilation and contraction of blood vessel walls, according to Dr. Henk C. S. Wallenburg, director of obstetrics at Erasmus University Medical School in Rotterdam.

Although some organizations advise women to avoid aspirin during pregnancy, he said, “to date there is no evidence whatsoever” that it is harmful to human fetuses. At a meeting in Washington last week, Wallenburg said there is no good evidence that aspirin use causes birth defects in humans, a problem seen in test animals that has led to cautioning pregnant women about taking the drug.

Fetal growth retardation occurs when blood vessels going to the placenta do not widen enough to provide sufficient nutrients for the fetus, he said. Some fetuses suffering under conditions such as toxemia end up stillborn, while survivors are severely undersize and born prematurely.

Wallenburg and his colleagues conducted two studies of aspirin in pregnant women, but they said further work is needed to verify their findings. A larger-scale study is planned in England, and another is already under way in France.

In one of the Dutch studies, 23 women identified as being at high risk for toxemia were given a low dose of aspirin, equivalent to less than a baby aspirin a day, starting at 28 weeks into pregnancy. Only two developed mild high blood pressure. Of another group of 23 women given placebos, 12 developed toxemia, often severe cases.

In the second study, 40 women at high risk for fetal growth retardation without toxemia participated. Of the babies born to the 20 women who took aspirin, four had growth problems. In the non-aspirin group, 14 of the babies born were growth-retarded.