title: Platelets, inflammation, and prediction of the hypertension disorders of pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the features of the platelets (PLTs) of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and to determine whether they have a predictive value for the disorders during the preclinical stage.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 461 HDPs and 827 normal pregnancies. Platelet counts were compared between the two groups by an independent samples t test; a Fisher's linear discriminant analysis and receiver operator characteristic curve were performed to analyze the diagnostic effects of the variables in developing HDP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with HDP had significantly higher PLT before the second trimester. When exceeding the cut-off, it had a specificity (SPE) of 81.67% (95% CI: 81.63%-81.72%) for predicting a HDP. The discriminant function had a sensitivity of 69.1 (95% CI: 69.04-69.16), a SPE of 73.60% (95% CI: 73.569-73.64), a positive prediction value of 61.32% (95% CI: 61.25-61.39), a negative prediction value of 79.93% (95% CI: 79.88-79.98), and 71.50% of gravidas were correctly classified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show that HDP is associated with increased systemic inflammation as depicted by the PLT and white blood cells in gravidas. The discriminant function of blood cells in a mathematical model may be helpful for predicting a HDP in presymptomatic patients, however, which is not sufficiently to use in clinical practice; a prospective study about the predicting is still needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510623, China.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Caijiao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000097:blood*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D010976:Platelet Count; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D012372:ROC Curve