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Maternal serum inhibin A can predict pre‐eclampsia
Author(s) -
Cuckle Howard,
Sehmi Indera,
Jones Richard
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1998.tb09943.x
Subject(s) - medicine , eclampsia , gestation , obstetrics , pregnancy , retrospective cohort study , second trimester , gynecology , genetics , biology
Objective To compare median levels of maternal serum inhibin A in the second trimester blood samples of women who subsequently develop pre‐eclampsia and those who do not. Design Retrospective analysis of 13–18 week samples from a bank of serum stored at −40°C, originally taken for Down's syndrome screening. Setting Antenatal clinics in a teaching hospital. Sample Twenty‐eight pregnancies with pre‐eclampsia and 701 controls. Samples were taken, on average, 22 weeks before the diagnosis. Main outcome measure Median inhibin A level. Results The median inhibin A level in the cases was 2.01 multiples of the gestation‐specific median in the controls, a statistically significant elevation ( P < 0.001 ). Twenty‐three (82%) had levels above the normal median; 19 (68%), 15 (54%), and 11 (39%) exceeded the normal 75th, 90th and 95th centiles, respectively. Conclusions In pre‐eclampsia the maternal serum inhibin A level can be increased months before the onset of symptoms. This provides an opportunity to study the early natural history of the disease and possibly to conduct treatment trials.