Predicting proteinuria in hypertensive pregnancies with urinary protein-creatinine or calcium-creatinine ratio

OBJECTIVE

Evaluate the value of random urinary protein-creatinine (PrCr) and calcium-creatinine (CaCr) ratios to predict 24-h proteinuria in hypertensive pregnancies.

STUDY DESIGN

Spot urine samples were collected before routine 24-h urine collections from consecutive pregnant women with hypertension (n=83). Reliability of spot urinary PrCr and CaCr to detect significant proteinuria (>or=300 mg/day) using 24-h urine protein as 'gold-standard' was assessed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS

Fifty-one patients (61.4%) had significant proteinuria (45 pre-eclampsia, 5 superimposed pre-eclampsia, 1 renal hypertension). Area under ROC curve to predict proteinuria was 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73 to 0.92, P<0.001) for PrCr and 0.55 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.68, P=0.2) for CaCr. A cutoff value of >0.19 for PrCr best predicted significant proteinuria with sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and likelihood ratios (positive and negative), respectively, of 80.4, 68.8, 80.4, 68.8%, 2.57 and 3.51.

CONCLUSION

Spot urinary PrCr predicts total urinary protein excretion in hypertensive pregnancies.

Obstetric impact of anaemia in pregnant women in United Arab Emirates

Our objective was to determine the effect of anaemia during pregnancy on maternal and perinatal outcome. A retrospective case-control study was conduced on 100 anaemic (haemoglobin level < 11g/dl) and 100 non-anaemic, pregnant women with singleton pregnancies who received antenatal care and delivered vaginally in our hospital. The maternal characteristics of both groups were not different. The causes of anaemia were iron deficiency (91%), beta-thalassaemia trait (8%) and folate deficiency (1%). There was no significant difference in the mean gestational age at delivery (38.9 +/- 2.0 vs 39.6 +/- 1.6 weeks), 5-minute Apgar score (7.8 +/- 0.8 vs 7.9 +/- 0.1) and birth weight (3,150 +/- 530 vs 3,230 +/- 430 g) between both groups. Post-partum haemorrhage (3%), pre-term delivery (4%) and fetal growth restriction (6%) were more frequent in anaemic women but the difference was not significant. Anaemia, therefore, had no significant obstetric adverse effects in our pregnant hospital-population.

Factors influencing the quality of life of infertile women in United Arab Emirates

OBJECTIVES

To measure the quality of life in a representative sample of infertile women and evaluate their sociocultural attitude to this condition.

METHODS

Two hundred sixty-nine infertile women attending the Assisted Reproduction clinic, Tawam Hospital were consecutively selected. They were interviewed about the effect of infertility on their quality of life using a structured, measurement-specific and pre-tested questionnaire.

RESULTS

Parameters mostly affected were mood-related mainly in women above 30 years, with primary and female factor infertility and those in polygamous marriages. Quality of life did not affect sexual performance and was not affected by duration of infertility or cost of treatment.

CONCLUSION

The results highlight the importance of bearing children and the stresses exerted on infertile women in Eastern societies. Thorough counseling and continuing support of infertile women is therefore indicated to improve their quality of life.