A retrospective study of coagulation parametres in patients of pregnancy induced hypertension

Introduction: Human pregnancy also known as gestation, is the time between fertilization of ovum to delivery of a baby. It is approcximately a process of 9 months during which new baby develops inside a womb. Physiologically, pregnancy is a hypercoagulative state. Hypercoagulable state in pregnancy is a naturally occuring preventive response to prevent excess loss of blood during delivery. It is essential to know the range of variations of the coagulation factors during normal pregnancy, if any specific component has to be incriminated as a causative agent for the vascular disorder. Preeclampsia is a serious and life threatening complication in pregnant women. It is a pregnancy specific disorder which rates among one of the major causes of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate severity of eclampsia by estimating coagulation profile tests in pregnancy induced hypertensive patients. To compare these biochemical parameters between the test group and control group. To correlate the outcome of pregnancy with these biochemical parameters. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study includes 120 females of uncomplicated pregnancy of age group 16-35 years as a control group and 120 females of same age group with pregnancy with hypertension (PIH) attending obstetric outdoor patient department (OPD) of the institute in the year of 2015. Blood samples are withdrawn from all participants for biochemical markers of coagulation study that includes total platelet count (PC), prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Results: Among total 120 PIH participants, 44 (36.67%) cases were having mild gestational hypertension, 11 (9.17%) cases were having severe gestational hypertension, 34 (28.33%) cases were having mild preeclampsia and 31 (25.83%) cases were having severe preeclampsia. The mean value of PT and APTT is found to be high in PIH cases as compared to control group participants. Conclusion: Parameters like total platelet count (PC), prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) can be used routinely as an early indicator for the assessment of PIH cases and also for detection of its severity. It can also be used to monitor the progression of gestational hypertension to prevent serious complications like preeclampsia and eclampsia. More number of preeclampsia cases are seen in underdeveloped and developing countries due to late diagnosis and inadequate antenatal services.