{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T21:57:00Z","timestamp":1784325420237,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]],"date-time":"2026-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767225600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Antiretroviral therapy used during pregnancy in HIV infected women effectively reduces vertical transmission, though concerns about potential adverse newborn outcomes persists. This study focused on prematurity and low birth weight in antiretroviral HIV-exposed children in two major Romanian centers, Bucharest and Constan\u021ba, in the context of free access to antiretroviral treatment for pregnant women in Romania since 2001. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed including couples of HIV-infected women and their live singleton newborns from 2006 and 2012. Preterm delivery was defined as birth before week 37 and low birth weight was defined as birth weight less than 2500 g in full-term babies. Results: A total number of 352 children and 313 women were enrolled. Mean maternal age at delivery was 23.1 years. Mean newborn birth weight was 2726 g. In the children group, 191 (54.2%) were boys, and the rate of HIV transmission was 13.9%. The prematurity rate was 21.5% and low birth weight rate was 25.56%. Preterm birth was associated with high HIV RNA in the third trimester, HIV-positive final status in infants, and vaginal delivery. Low birth weight was associated with lack of antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy and HIV-positive status in infants. No association was found between prematurity and low birth weight in full-term newborns and exposure to any antiretroviral class, any specific antiviral drug, or with any number of maternal regimens, duration of antiretroviral treatment prior to conception, or maternal exposure during puberty. Conclusions: In our study, preterm birth was significantly associated with HIV vertical transmission in newborns and with exposure to high maternal viral replication during the last trimester of pregnancy. Low birth weight in full-term babies was significantly associated with lack of antiretroviral exposure in utero in our analysis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62010093","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T17:51:21Z","timestamp":1767376281000},"page":"93","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Maternal Antiretroviral Use and the Risk of Prematurity and Low Birth Weight in Perinatally HIV-Exposed Children\u20147 Years\u2019 Experience in Two Romanian Centers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6514-0122","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana Maria","family":"Tudor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"\u201cProf. Dr. Matei Bal\u015f\u201d National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4898-8938","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona Claudia","family":"Cambrea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cOvidius\u201d University from Constanta, 900470 Constanta, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases Constanta, 900709 Constanta, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0103-200X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lauren\u021biu Mih\u0103i\u021b\u0103","family":"Stratan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cProf. Dr. Matei Bal\u015f\u201d National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Constan\u021ba Angelica","family":"Vi\u0219an","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"\u201cProf. Dr. Matei Bal\u015f\u201d National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C\u0103t\u0103lin","family":"Tili\u0219can","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cProf. Dr. Matei Bal\u015f\u201d National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria","family":"Aram\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cProf. Dr. Matei Bal\u015f\u201d National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 021105 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2492-6073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona Maria","family":"Ru\u021b\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Emerging Viral Diseases, Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology, Romanian Academy, 030304 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boulle, A., Schomaker, M., May, M.T., Hogg, R.S., Shepherd, B.E., Monge, S., Keiser, O., Lampe, F.C., Giddy, J., and Ndirangu, J. (2014). Mortality in Patients with HIV-1 Infection Starting Antiretroviral Therapy in South Africa, Europe, or North America: A Collaborative Analysis of Prospective Studies. 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