[The characteristics of the endocrine function of the fetoplacental system in pregnant women with chronic pyelonephritis and nephropathy]. / Nekotorye osobennosti éndokrinnoi funktsii fetoplatsentarnoi sistemy u beremennykh s khronicheskim pielonefritom i nefropatie.

A follow-up study of 100 pregnant women with chronic pyelonephritis and superimposed nephropathy has shown that the major determinant of placental insufficiency is late toxemia of pregnancy, not the underlying disease. Estriol levels correlated with severity and duration of gestosis and thus provided the best predictor of fetoplacental insufficiency. Findings on placental lactogen production were less helpful since the production of this hormone was decreased only in severe nephropathy. The onset and progression of placental insufficiency were associated with rising progesterone concentrations in blood, which appeared to be a compensatory placental event.