Correlation between grade III placenta and plasma antithrombin III activity in full term pregnancy.
We evaluated whether the presence of a grade III placenta correlates with blood hypercoagulability in pregnancy between 37 and 39 weeks of gestation. The placenta was graded by ultrasound in 155 healthy full-term women and the plasma levels of antithrombin III (AT III) activity, thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) and D-dimer were correlated with each placental grade. AT III activity levels tended to decrease with advancing placental grade from I to III (p < 0.05). D-dimer showed the same tendency while TAT did not. The incidence of reduced AT III activity levels (<70%) in women with a grade III placenta was about twice those in women with a grade II or I placenta, and that of AT III <80% was 3-fold greater. We concluded that the presence of a grade III placenta in full-term pregnancies correlates with blood hypercoagulability.
Asakura
H
H
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan. Asakura_Hirobumi@obgy@nms.ac.jp
Ohshita
T
T
Suzuki
S
S
Araki
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000378:metabolism*
D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D; D000990:Antithrombin III