Diagnosis, staging and screening
Pre-eclampsia is a syndrome and as such, has no specific test. Diagnosis rests upon the recognition of features consistently associated with the condition.
Maternal factors routinely screened for include:
- blood pressure
- urine - the presence of protein
- weight - accelerated gain
- evidence of fluid retention
In the fetus:
- small for gestational age
Note:
- baseline observations eg. booking BP - cannot be over stressed; these give a benchmark against which to interpret later results. Ideally these are at 12 to 16 weeks gestation
- other factors may provide evidence of the syndrome - eg. hyperuricaemia, thrombocytopenia, haemoconcentration, abnormal aspartate aminotransferase activity
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