Many markers have been proposed to identify the pregnant woman at risk to develop preeclampsia, without finding at the moment the gold standard.
Objective: The main purpose of the present study was to know if the detection of microalbuminuria in early stages of pregnancy is a good predictor of preeclampsia.
Methods and material: One hundred and two women (102) were studied. All of them had risk factors for preeclampsia with a pregnancy between 16 and 18 weeks, an evaluation of microalbuminuria was done through a clean-catch dipstick of the first miction of the day, excluding patients with urinary tract infections and nephropaty, > 20 mg/L was considered a positive value. Diagnosis data of preeclampsia were recopilated from the clinical chart of each patient after the pregnancy was resolved.
Results: Of the 102 patients, 53 had a negative microalbuminuria, 6 (11%) developed preeclampsia and 47 (88%) did not. Forty nine women had positive microalbuminuria and 23 (46.9%) of them developed preeclampsia and 26 (53%) did not. The sensitivity was 79%, specificity 63%, the positive predictive value was 46% and the negative predictive value was 88%.
Conclusions: The detection of microalbuminuria in early stages of pregnancy could be a good predictor of preeclampsia, moreover it is a simple and feasible procedure to do by the obstetrician.