The impact of serum albumin level on maternal and fetal morbidity in women with preeclampsia

Background : Preeclampsia, pregnancy induced hypertension, is considered to be associated with increased vascular permeability leading to albumin loss from the intravascular space. Although hypoalbuminemia is common in pregnant women with preeclampsia, the impact of hypoalbuminemia on maternal and fetal morbidity in preeclampsia is not well known yet. Methods : This study included 392 pregnant women with preeclampsia. The patients were divided into hypoalbuminemia group (serum albumin ﾕ3.0g/dL) based on the lowest serum albumin level. And we compared clinical factors representing maternal and fetal morbidity between the two groups. The mean age of the patients was 305 years and mean pregnant duration was 35.53.4 weeks. Results : Of the total 392 patents, 280 patients (71.4%) had hypoalbuminemia. Compared to normal group (n=112), hypoalbuminemia group (n=280) had higher incidence of twin pregnancy (7.5% vs. 1.8%, p=0.030), acute renal failure (12.5% vs. 3.6%, p=0.008), hepatic dysfunction (33.5% vs. 12.2%, p3.5 g/day) (34.4% vs. 10.8%, p=0.002), respectively. But there was no difference in maternal age, pulmonary edema, abruptio placenta, postpartum hemorrhage between the two groups. Concerning fetal morbidity, the incidence of intrauterine growth retardation in hypoalbuminemia group was higher than that in normal group (25.0% vs. 12.5%, p=0.011) and birth weight in hypoalbuminemia group was smaller than that in normal group (2.50.8 vs.2.850.8 kg, p=0.002). Conclusion : This data suggest that hypoalbuminemia frequently occurs in pregnant women with preeclampsia and it is closely associated with maternal and fetal morbidity.