ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate changes in serum lipoproteins in primiparous women with eclampsia and compare it with pregnant women having normal blood pressure
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 65 primiparous eclamptic patients and 21 normotensive pregnant women in the tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. History of each woman was recorded on a questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured using standard methods. About 5 ml of venous blood was drawn for the analysis of lipoproteins
The data was analyzed using computer software package SPSS version 10. The P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant
Results: Mean age of hypertensive cases was 23.2 +/- 0.52 years while that for controls was 23.9 +/- 1.16 years. Significant differences were found in serum lipoproteins. Women having eclampsia had 28.8%, 29.5%, 31.1%, 32.9% and 65.3% higher, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDLC], triglycerides [TG], total cholesterol [TC]:high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [HDLC] ratio, LDLCiHDLC ratio and TG:HDLC ratio respectively as compared to the control group. The HDLC concentrations, HDLC:VLDLC ratio and apolipoprotein-A1 level were 26.9%, 56.6% and 27.9% respectively, lower in the patient group as compared to the controls
Conclusion: This study suggests that evaluation of lipoprotein concentrations during antenatal period can be helpful in the early detection and prevention of developing eclampsia