2 research outputs found
Obstetric hemorrhage and adverse maternal outcomes: experience of a private teaching hospital in Southwestern Nigeria
Background: Obstetric hemorrhage (OH) has remained the leading cause of maternal mortality, despite concerted National efforts. This audit was conducted to determine its contribution to Adverse Maternal Outcomes and determinants of survival at a private Teaching Hospital, which had provided comprehensive essential obstetric care for 3 years.Methods: A retrospective review of all Severe Maternal Outcomes (SMO) due to OH using the Near-Miss approach.Results: There were 682 deliveries, 101 (14.8%) were SMOs; composed of 97 Maternal Near Misses (MNM) and 4 Maternal Deaths (MD). OH accounted for 37/101(36.6%) of the total SMO and 33/97 (34.0%) of the total MNM observed. All MD were due to Obstetric hemorrhage, n=4(100%), with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 3.3%. Coagulopathy (CFR=25%) and ruptured uterus (CFR=20%) were major causes of MD. Most of the MNM 19/33 (57.6%) and MD 3/4 (75%) were unbooked referrals; with MD more likely when a referred patient lived >5km from the hospital (OR=3.53). Significantly more MD (p=0.021, OR= 1.36, CI=1.005-1.850), were associated with deviations from standard management protocol.Conclusion: Obstetric Hemorrhage, caused most of the Adverse Maternal Outcomes. Survival however depended on the quality of antenatal care, pre-referral care and adherence to standard management protocol for definitive care.Keywords: Pregnancy, hemorrhage, maternal, near-miss, NigeriaAfr J Health Sci. 2016; 29(2):105-11
Inflammatory Marker Levels in Preeclampsia versus Normal Pregnancies and Prediction of Preeclampsia Occurrence: A Prospective Mixed Methods Study
Introduction: Preeclampsia is an important cause of adverse
maternal and perinatal outcomes. However, this condition
remains poorly understood, and since the only cure is delivery,
prediction and prevention are crucial to prevent preterm birth or
maternal compromise.
Aim: To determine the levels of acute phase reactants, namely
high-sensitivity C-reactive Protein (hsCRP) and fibrinogen,
between preeclamptic and non preeclamptic pregnancies.
Additionally, the study aims to determine the predictive value of
these acute phase reactants for preeclampsia.
Materials and Methods: A prospective mixed methods study
was conducted in two tertiary hospitals and two specialist
hospitals in the Ijebu/Remo axis of Ogun state, Nigeria.
Preeclamptic participants were recruited during pregnancy
and postpartum and matched with non preeclamptic controls
(case-control arm, n=179, comprised of 87 preeclamptics and
92 controls). Additionally, a cohort of non preeclamptic women
(n=71) was recruited and biomarker-assayed before 20 weeks
gestation, followed-up for the development of preeclampsia.
The biomarker assay was performed using the ELISA technique.
The Student's t-test was used to compare the mean levels of
markers between the studied groups. Categorical data were
compared using the Chi-square test. A p-value <0.05 was
considered to be statistically significant
Results: The levels of hsCRP were significantly higher in
pregnant preeclamptic women (12.71±1.99 mg/L) compared
to non preeclamptic women (4.39±3.41 mg/L) (p-value=0.001).
Similarly, fibrinogen levels were elevated in preeclamptic
women (9.45±1.28 g/L) compared to non preeclamptic women
(7.19±1.86 g/L) (p-value =0.001). This trend was also observed
among postpartum women, with hsCRP levels of 10.39±2.43
mg/L in preeclamptics compared to 2.53±2.06 mg/L in non
preeclamptics (p-value=0.001). The mean fibrinogen level
was 8.63±1.91 g/L in preeclamptics compared to 4.09±1.66
g/L in non preeclamptics. Fibrinogen demonstrated a higher
specificity (88.9%) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 100%
compared to hsCRP (specificity=47.1% and NPV=76.1%). The
biomarker levels also correlated significantly with the severity of
preeclampsia. For hsCRP, there was a correlation with Systolic
Blood Pressure (SBP) (r-value=0.385, p-value=0.001), Diastolic
Blood Pressure (DBP) (r-value=0.364, p-value=0.001), and
proteinuria (r-value=0.314, p-value=0.001). For fibrinogen, there
was a correlation with SBP (r-value=0.252, p-value=0.014), DBP
(r-value=0.378, p-value=0.001), and proteinuria (r-value=0.356,
p-value=0.001).
Conclusion: Although hsCRP and fibrinogen levels were
significantly higher and correlated well with the severity of
preeclampsia, their use for prediction may be limited. However,
fibrinogen appears to have better prospects