The use of urinary albumin-creatinine ratios and calcium-creatinine ratios as screening tests for pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Abstract

To assess the potential of both urinary albumin creatinine ratios and urinary calcium-creatinine ratios as screening tests for pregnancy-induced hypertension. A prospective, non-interventional study was performed in a teaching hospital antenatal clinic. Five hundred normotensive, nulliparous pregnant women provided a urine sample at 19 weeks' gestation. The main outcome measurements were the development of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. No significant differences in urinary albumin/creatinine and calcium/creatinine were demonstrated between patients who developed pregnancy-induced hypertension and those who remained normotensive. Urinary creatinine concentrations were significantly higher at 19 weeks' gestation in patients who subsequently developed pregnancy-induced hypertension. This study suggests that neither urinary ratio is a potential screening test for pregnancy-induced hypertension. The increased urinary creatinine concentration in patients who subsequently developed pregnancy-induced hypertension has not previously been reported and merits further investigation.