[Placental location and incidence of pre-eclampsia].
OBJECTIVE
In pregnancies with unilateral placental location, the uteroplacental Doppler flow measurements show significant side-to-side differences. Highly divergent findings seem to be associated with an unfavourable outcome, particularly with preeclampsia. Therefore, we studied the relationship between placental location and subsequent development of preeclampsia prospectively.


METHODS
184 patients between 24 and 36 weeks of gestation were studied prospectively. Placental location was classified as central or lateral by ultrasound. Preeclampsia was defined by blood pressure > or = 140/90 mmHg and proteinuria > or = 500 mg/24 h.


RESULTS
After consideration of exclusion criteria, 148 pregnancies could be evaluated: 115 had a laterally and 33 a centrally located placenta. The incidence of preeclampsia in these groups was 32/115 (28%) and 3/33 (9%) respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that a laterally located placenta is associated with a significantly increased incidence of preeclampsia, with a risk ratio of 3.1 when compared to pregnancies with centrally located placentas.
Gonser
M
M
Universitäts-Frauenklinik Tübingen.
Tillack
N
N
Pfeiffer
K H
KH
Mielke
G
G
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000502:physiology; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal
Plazentalokalisation und Inzidenz der Präeklampsie.