title: [Assessment of the risk of postpartum thromboembolism by measuring antithrombin III levels. A false hope].
abstract: In order to predict better thrombo-embolic complications that sometimes occur after delivery, we studied the variations of antithrombin III levels (A.T. III) in 703 women, at the 8th month pregnancy (275 levels), on the first day (609 levels) and the 5th day (516 levels) after delivery. The average antithrombin III levels were respectively 90.8%, 83.4% and 98.7%. We found 120 levels (8.5%) lower than 80% (normal range for A.T. III = 80-120%), 107 of which on the first day after delivery were followed by a rapid increase to the normal range; these women however were satisfactory in the post-partum period. Therefore predicting thrombo-embolic complications in the post-partum period through A.T. III levels determination would seem to be pointless.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D012306:Risk; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000990:Antithrombin III
vernacular_title: Dépistage du risque thrombo-embolique du post-partum par le dosage de l'antithrombine III. Espoir déçu!