Background
Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy which may cause morbidity and even mortality for both the mother and the fetus. Blood pressure elevation is the most visible sign of pre-eclampsia; however, the disease is multi-systemic affecting almost all systems of the body. CA125 has been found to be elevated in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies.
Objectives
To assess the level of CA-125 in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies to find out whether this marker is significantly elevated in women with pre-eclampsia, also to find out any correlation between the severity of pre-eclampsia and the serum concentration of CA 125.
Patients and Methods
This was a case control study, carried out in Sulaimani Maternity teaching hospital over a period of one year starting from the 1st of May 2015 to the 30th of April 2016. The study included 150 pregnant women, with singleton pregnancy in their 3rd trimester, these women were categorized into three group, fifty women with healthy pregnancy (the control group). Fifty women with mild pre-eclampsia and fifty women with severe pre-eclampsia (the study groups). The serum CA125 level was measured for the women in the three groups and comparison was made among them.
Results
Mean serum CA-125 and mean arterial pressure were significantly higher in the pre-eclamptic groups compared to the control group (P- value =0.0001). There was a direct correlation between CA-125 and mean arterial pressure in pregnant women with severe pre-eclampsia. The sensitivity and specificity of CA- 125 level were 94% for the detection of pre-eclamptic pregnancies.
Conclusion
Serum CA-125 was significantly higher in pre-eclampsia groups in comparison to the control group and the level was directly correlated with the severity of pre-eclampsia.
