Predictive Value of Plasma Hematocrit Level in Early Diagnosis of Pre-Eclampsia

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether hematocrit level is associated with pre-eclampsia and assess its predictive value in diagnosing pre-eclampsia.

Study Design: Cross-sectional validation study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CMH Quetta, from Jul 2019 to Jan 2020.

Methodology: A total of 561 pregnant women with a singleton pregnancy were included in the study. The diagnosis of preeclampsia was made as per operational definition. The samples were collected by non-probability consecutive sampling. Pregnant females with a parity of 0-4, gestational age > 16 weeks on last menstrual period (LMP) and singleton pregnancy on ultrasound were included in the study. In addition, data on plasma hematocrit findings and incidence of pre-eclampsia (positive/negative) were recorded.

Results: The age range in this study was from 18 to 40 years, with a mean age of 28.805 ± 2.41 years, mean parity of 1.258 ± 1.07 and mean gestational age was 11.352 ± 2.22 weeks. Plasma hematocrit findings predict 26 (4.6%) patients, and the incidence of pre-eclampsia was in 35 (6.2%) patients. Plasma hematocrit findings had shown a sensitivity of 60%, specificity 99%, diagnostic accuracy by 97%, PPV 80.7%, NPV 97.3%, (p<0.001) in diagnosis of preeclampsia.

Conclusion: Haematocrit can be valuable as a screening test for the timely diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in health centres. Women with a hematocrit above the cut-off of 38% must be scrutinized prudently for the signs of pre-eclampsia.