Iintroduction: Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy specific syndrome that can affect virtually every
organ system in the body .In Nigeria, it is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. Despite
years of research the aetiopathogenesis of this disorder has remained elusive. However current
evidence has implicated oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is
associated with uricaemia. However, literature on serum uric acid as a predictor of complications
of Pre-eclampsia is conflicting. Therefore, comparing uric acid level with disease severity and
pregnancy outcome among pre-eclamptics may clarify the role of uric acid in this condition in our
environment.
Aim: To compare serum uric acid levels with disease severity and pregnancy outcome among preeclamptic women at the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia.
Materials and Methods: This was a case control study carried out in Federal Medical Centre,
Umuahia, which is a tertiary health facility in Abia state serving as a referral Centre for both private
and government health institutions in the state and environ. Pregnant women attending the
antenatal clinic, as well as those admitted into the antenatal and labour wards, who voluntarily
accepted to participate, were consecutively recruited into two groups. Group A included pregnant
women diagnosed with preeclampsia, while group B were normotensive non-proteinuric pregnant
women. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.
Descriptive statistics which includes frequency and percentages were used to summarize
categorical variables while means and standard deviations were obtained for continuous variables.
Associations between categorical variables such as pre-eclampsia severity and pregnancy
outcomes were done using logistic regression and Chi square while means of continuous variables
such as serum uric acid was compared using student’s t test. Data was presented using odds ratios
(OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) The level of statistical significance was set at Pvalue of less than 0.05. Results were presented in tables and charts.