Blood coagulation changes in pregnant women at risk of developing preeclampsia.
OBJECTIVE
A group of 50 pregnant patients were studied with regard to the time of onset of hypercoagulation, its character and mechanisms of initiation in the development of preeclampsia.


METHODS
The blood coagulation characteristics, antithrombin (AT)-III and endogenous heparin levels were studied. All of the patients were designated at risk of developing preeclampsia at the time of registration at the antenatal clinic.


RESULTS
Retrospective evaluation shows that endogenous heparin levels and AT-III activity decreased by nearly 50% within 15 days of the development of preeclampsia and were particularly low 1-7 days before the onset of clinical signs of preeclampsia.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that abnormalities in AT activity are a marker of hypercoagulation and begin more than 2 weeks before the development of clinical signs of preeclampsia.
Savelieva
G M
GM
Russian State Medical University, Moscow.
Efimov
V S
VS
Grishin
V L
VL
Shalina
R I
RI
Kashezheva
A Z
AZ
D000328:Adult; D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000378:metabolism*; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology*; D001780:Blood Coagulation Tests; D005260:Female; D006493:Heparin / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000502:physiology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D000990:Antithrombin III; D006493:Heparin