Volume 3 No. 1, January 2008

The Significance of Hyperuricemia in Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia

Dina Gamal El-Deen El-Kholi

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt.
Tanta Med. Sc. J 2008; 3(1):210-221
Article type: Original article

 

Background/Aim: Serum uric acid appears to have an independent link with adverse perinatal outcome in gestational hypertension (GH) and preeclampsia (PE). They acknowledged that additional verification of their results is needed. We asked if hyperuricemia “HU” (serum uric acid > 6 mg/dl), a common finding in hypertension of pregnancy might also be an indicator of increased perinatal risk. The aim of this work is to searching for the effect of HU on the perinatal outcome in patients with GH and PE. Patients & Methods: A case-control study was performed on 50 normal pregnant patients, 69 cases of GH and 106 PE admitted to hospital for delivery. They were assigned into 7 categories : 50 normal pregnancies, 38 cases of GH without HU, 31 cases of GH with HU 36 cases of mild PE without HU, 32 cases of mild PE with HU, 18 cases of severe PE without HU and 20 cases of severe PE with HU. All participants were primiparous with no known medical complications. Serum uric acid was estimated on admission for delivery in all categories. The frequency of preterm birth, gestational age at delivery, infant birth weight, rate of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and perinatal mortality were reported in the seven categories. Results: Women with HU in the last 6 categories were associated with shorter gestational age at delivery, smaller birth weight, increased rate of admission to NICU and perinatal mortality. HU increased the risk of these outcomes in the presence or absence of proteinuria. Women with GH and HU had similar and sometimes greater perinatal risk as women with severe PE without HU. Those women with GH with HU had greater perinatal risk than women with mild PE without HU. Those women with mild PE with HU had greater perinatal risk than women with severe PE without HU. The greatest risk was with severe PE and HU. HU should be considered in the management of GH and PE as regard perinatal outcome. Conclusion: There is no consensus of opinion about the correlation of serum uric acid concentration and the severity of PE as regard blood pressure, thrombocytopenia and level of liver enzymes. In the current study severity of PE is not related to the serum uric acid concentration.