Serum albumin, creatinine, uric acid and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is a form of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. It is a common cause of both maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the possibility of early prediction of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy using single estimation of serum protein, creatinine and uric in serum samples of healthy primigravidae with singleton pregnancy. SETTING: University College Hospital, Ibadan. SUBJECTS: Fifty nine normortensive primigravidae. METHODS: Fifty nine healthy normotensive primigravidae with singleton pregnancy who booked for antenal care and delivered at the University College Hospital, Ibadan had single estimations of their serum albumin, creatinine and uric acid levels at booking before the 20th week of pregnancy. The women were followed up longitudinally throughout pregnancy. RESULTS: Pre-eclampsia occurred in five of the patients (21.7%), two had pregnancy induced hypertension only (8.7%) while 16 remained normotensive (69.6%). The difference in the mean serum concentration of uric acid (0.162 +/- 0.02 mmol/L) and creatinine (93.70 +/- 10.08 micromol/L) respectively were not statistically significant (p>0.05). However, the difference in the mean serum albumin levels (4.06 +/- 0.06 versus 3.71 +/- 0.33 gm/dl) was significantly higher in the pre-eclampsia group (p<0.05). The predictive performance of these tests was generally low whether alone or in combination. CONCLUSION: Single estimation of serum uric acid and creatinine levels early in pregnancy are of little value in the prediction of pre-eclampsia. A large study is recommended to properly define the value of serum albumin levels in pregnancy in the prediction of pre-eclampsia in the light of the findings of this study.