Publication:

Association of serum uric acid and C-reactive protein levels in prediction of pre-eclampsia

Background Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy increase maternal and infant risk. The greatest impact is associated with the pregnancy-specific syndrome, preeclampsia, a consistently clinically worsening situation. PE is a complication of pregnancy, constituting a major cause of maternal and foetal morbidity, and mortalityHyperuricemia and increased CRP level, in pre-eclamptic patients need to be confirmed, in a designed strategy, in which uric acid and CRP level are  measured before the development of preeclampsia, or early in pregnancy, in order to identify and monitor the patients, “at risk of preeclampsia”, and thus  provide the best prenatal care for these women and their babies.

Methods The study was done in Dhiraj Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. The study duration was 1 year. It is a prospective type of study comprising of patients, who were attending ANC clinic and were booked cases at Dhiraj hospital. Serum uric acid and C-reactive protein were estimated along with other routine investigations for all patients attending ANC clinic. All the subjects were divided into two groups: (i) Group-1 (Study Group): Fifty diagnosed pre-eclamptic patients in third trimester of pregnancy (37-40 weeks) whose serum uric acid and CRP levels were already raised during her antenatal visits in second trimester, (ii) Group-2 (Control Group): fifty two normal pregnant women of comparable gestational age.

Results The mean values of serum uric acid and CRP levels remain higher in study group than that of control group. This difference is statistically significant (p= 0.02).

Conclusions All the patients in study group whose measurement of uric acid and CRP levels were high, developed pre-eclampsia. So it can be fairly concluded, that the observed elevations in serum uric acid level or CRP level or both, preceded the development of pre-eclampsia.