Publication:

Platelet count and MPV in women with PIH in their third trimester

Background One of the most common and potential life-threatening complications of pregnancy is pregnancy induced hypertension. Though platelet count during pregnancy is within the normal non-pregnant reference values, there is a tendency for the platelet count to fall in late pregnancy. The frequency and intensity of maternal thrombocytopenia varies and is dependent on the intensity and severity of PIH.

Methods This prospective study was conducted in the Department of obstetrics and gynecology in Jhalawar medical college from January 2018 to April 2018.Total 120 pregnant women during third trimester (32-40 weeks) aged 18 to 35 years were selected. Among them 63 were preeclamptic patients and 63 were healthy normotensive control. Subjects and healthy pregnant women (control) visiting the Obstetrics and Gynecology department of Jhalawar Medical College were registered in the study and followed during their pregnancy. Both, subjects and control participants were subject to platelet count manually and MPV was determined by an automated analyser (sysmex XN-1000™) performed using standard methods on.

Results The mean platelet count of the subject group (131.4937±62.05999 lakh/mm3) was significantly lower than that of the control group (324.9683±230.78764 lakh/mm3). This shows that there is thrombocytopenia found in patients with P.I.H in their third trimester. On the other hand, the p value of “mean platelet volume” in patients with preeclampsia was (p 0.142), regular monitoring of platelet counts in women with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension must be subject of the management protocols.

Conclusions In present study we observed that the number of thrombocytopenic subjects was higher in cases of preeclampsia as compared to the control group. These extrapolations indicate that there might be some important mechanism which interferes with platelets life span thus reducing the number of functional platelets in circulation. The platelet count has an association at prediction of increasing grade of PIH. There is an inverse relationship between the severity of PIH and platelet count. The depleted platelet counts are concluded to be consistently associated with clinical groups of severe preeclampsia and the risk of consumptive coagulopathy.