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Are high uric acid levels in patients with early pre-eclampsia an indication for delivery?
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Stellenbosch, W Cape.
Objective:
To compare the perinatal mortality rates of pre-eclamptic patients with high, normal and low uric acid levels.
Design:
Prospective analytic study.
Setting:
Tertiary hospital to which many patients with severe pre-eclampsia are referred.
Subjects:
Two hundred and twenty-nine patients with severe pre-eclampsia.
Intervention:
Delivery for maternal or fetal reasons, not taking uric acid levels into account.
Main Outcome Measure:
Perinatal mortality rate.
Results:
The mean uric acid level prior to delivery at a mean gestational age of 30.9 weeks was 0.4 mmol (SD 0.11). Twenty patients had uric acid levels of 0.28 mmol/l or lower and 25 patients values of 0.52 mmol/l or higher. The mean gestational age at admission and the admission-delivery interval for the high, normal and low uric acid groups were 29.2 weeks, 11.8 days; 29.2 weeks, 13.3 days and 27.1 weeks, 13 days respectively. For babies who weighed 1000 g or more at delivery, the perinatal mortality rates were 40, 11 and 50 respectively.
Conclusion:
There is no evidence from this study to support the association between perinatal deaths and higher uric acid levels in patients with severe pre-eclampsia.