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Published on: January 26, 2024
Mild thrombocytopenia indicating maternal organ damage in pre-eclampsia: a cross-sectional study
Michinori Mayama1, Mamoru Morikawa2, Takashi Yamada3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-ku N15 W7, 060-8638, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. m_mayama@protonmail.com.
Background:
Currently, there is a disagreement between guidelines regarding platelet count cut-off values as a sign of maternal organ damage in pre-eclampsia; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines state a cut-off value of < 100 × 109/L; however, the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy guidelines specify a cut-off of < 150 × 109/L. We evaluated the effect of mild thrombocytopenia: platelet count < 150 × 109/L and ≥ 100 × 109/L on clinical features of pre-eclampsia to examine whether mild thrombocytopenia reflects maternal organ damage in pre-eclampsia.
Methods:
A total of 264 women were enrolled in this study. Participants were divided into three groups based on platelet count levels at delivery: normal, ≥ 150 × 109/L; mild thrombocytopenia, < 150 × 109/L and ≥ 100 × 109/L; and severe thrombocytopenia, < 100 × 109/L. Risk of severe hypertension, utero-placental dysfunction, maternal organ damage, preterm delivery, and neonatal intensive care unit admission were analyzed based on platelet count levels. Estimated relative risk was calculated with a Poisson regression analysis with a robust error.
Results:
Platelet counts indicated normal levels in 189 patients, mild thrombocytopenia in 51 patients, and severe thrombocytopenia in 24 patients. The estimated relative risks of severe thrombocytopenia were 4.46 [95 % confidence interval, 2.59-7.68] for maternal organ damage except for thrombocytopenia, 1.61 [1.06-2.45] for preterm delivery < 34 gestational weeks, and 1.35 [1.06-1.73] for neonatal intensive care unit admission. On the other hand, the estimated relative risks of mild thrombocytopenia were 0.97 [0.41-2.26] for maternal organ damage except for thrombocytopenia, 0.91 [0.62-1.35] for preterm delivery < 34 gestational weeks, and 0.97 [0.76-1.24] for neonatal intensive care unit admission.
Conclusions:
Mild thrombocytopenia was not associated with severe features of pre-eclampsia and would not be suitable as a sign of maternal organ damage.
