Predictive value of 4-, 8-, and 12-h urine protein and protein-to-creatinine ratio for detection of pre-eclampsia.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the accuracy of protein measurement and protein-to-creatinine ratio (PCR) in 4-, 8-, and 12-h urine samples as compared with 24-h urine samples as the gold standard method for suspected pre-eclampsia.


METHODS
In a prospective study, 120 women at more than 20weeks of pregnancy with high blood pressure and no history of hypertension were enrolled between April 2010 and December 2012. Net protein excretion and PCR were evaluated in urine samples collected over 4h, 8h, 12h (day), and 12h (night) and compared with 24-h protein excretion as the gold standard test.


RESULTS
A significant positive correlation was found between the values of the 4-h, 8-h, 12-h (day), and 12-h (night) samples and the 24-h samples. The best cutoff point of the PCR to detect significant urine protein excretion was 0.28, 0.24, 0.25, and 0.23 for the 4-h, 8-h, 12-h (day), and 12-h (night) samples, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of protein and PCR in 4-h, 8-h, and 12-h urine samples might provide an alternative test for detecting proteinuria among pregnant women with suspected pre-eclampsia when there is insufficient time to collect 24-h urine samples.
Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ladan
L
Haghighi
Akbar Abadi Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ,Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nabiollah
N
Nasiri
Akbar Abadi Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ,Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Atefeh
A
Ebrahimi
Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Zahra
Z
Najmi
Department of Epidemiology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Yousef
Y
Moradi
Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: nedahashemi1363@yahoo.com.
Neda
N
Hashemi
D000328:Adult; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000652:urine*; D012372:ROC Curve; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D003404:Creatinine
12-h urine collection; 24-h urine collection; 4-h urine collection; 8-h urine collection; Pre-eclampsia; Protein-to-creatinine ratio; Proteinuria, PCR