Evaluation of platelet and white cell parameters among pregnant women with Preeclampsia in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate platelet and White cell parameters in women with preeclampsia (PE) in comparison with a healthy pregnancy.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried in 2015 at University of Gondar hospital. Thirty-three mild PE, 30 severe PE cases and 63 healthy pregnant women were enrolled in the study. About 3 mL venous blood sample was collected from each study participants. Hematological parameters were determined by Sysmex KX-21 hematological analyzer. Data normality was checked by Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test. One way analysis of variance with Bonferroni test and Pearson's product moment correlation were done for normally distributed data. For non-normally distributed data, Kruskal-Wallis H test with the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank-order Correlation test were done using SPSS 20.0 for Windows. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The means of white blood cells (WBC), absolute Neutrophil count (ANC), Absolute middle cell count (AMC), mean Platelet count (PTC), Platelet distribution width (PDW), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and median of platelet-to-large cell ratio (P-LCR) were significantly increased; while Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and platelet count (PTC) were significantly decreased in PE groups. WBC, ANC, MPV, PDW, P-LCR and NLR showed statistically significant positive correlations, whereas PTC displayed a statistically significant negative correlation with a MAP in PE group.

Conclusion: WBC, ANC, MPV, PDW, P-LCR and NLR were increased as PE advanced. PTC decreased with the severity of the disease. Evaluation of these parameters as a supportive clinical marker in the assessment of severity may assist the management of PE.

Keywords: Platelet; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy; White cell.