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Abnormal analyte preeclampsia: do the second-trimester maternal serum analytes help differentiate preeclampsia subtypes?

Abstract

Objective:

To determine if serum screen analytes identify preeclamptic patients at risk for small-for-gestational age newborns, maternal laboratory abnormalities and preterm delivery (<37 weeks gestation).

Study Design:

Using a retrospective cohort of 102 preeclamptic patients, associations between serum screen analytes and newborn birth-weight percentile, gestational age (GA) at delivery and maternal pre-delivery laboratory abnormalities were evaluated using correlation coefficients and local polynomial regression.

Result:

Inhibin-A and maternal serum alpha fetoprotein were inversely correlated with newborn birth-weight percentile (−0.27, P=0.006; −0.35, P=0.00004) and delivery GA (r=−0.42, P<0.0001; r=−0.26, P=0.008) and positively correlated with pre-delivery aspartate aminotransferase (r=0.22, P=0.03; r=0.21, P=0.04) and lactate dehydrogenase (r=0.33, P=0.0007; r=0.29, P=0.004). A positive correlation was noted between both second-trimester beta human chorionic gonadotropin and estriol and maternal pre-delivery creatinine (0.28, P=0.004; 0.4, P<0.0001, respectively). Hundred percent of patients with 2 abnormal analytes delivered before 37 weeks gestation.

Conclusion:

Preeclamptic patients with abnormal serum screen analytes are more likely to have small-for-gestational age newborns, deliver preterm and have pre-delivery laboratory abnormalities.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Daniel Gerlanc for expert assistance with creating graphical figures. This project was supported by the National Center for Research Resources grant number UL1 RR025752 and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, grant number UL1 TR000073.

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The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Research Resources or the National Institutes of Health.

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Correspondence to A S Critchfield.

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Critchfield, A., Paulus, J., Farez, R. et al. Abnormal analyte preeclampsia: do the second-trimester maternal serum analytes help differentiate preeclampsia subtypes?. J Perinatol 33, 754–758 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.55

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