Serum Magnesium Levels in Second and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy in Patients That Developed Pre-Eclampsia and Feto-Maternal Outcome

Introduction: Pregnancy is a physiological process that may be complicated by a number of clinical conditions. Gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia are known complications in pregnancy. Pre-eclampsia is a disease of hypothesis in which the pathogenesis is yet to be fully explained. The role of magnesium in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia has been suggested by studies and it is being investigated all over the world. The study aimed to compare serum magnesium levels in pre-eclampsia and control groups from second trimester of pregnancy and assessed maternofetal outcome. Materials and Methods: This was a nested case control study in which consenting three hundred and sixty (360) normal pregnant women were enrolled. These women were recruited in their second trimester of pregnancy. Blood samples for serum magnesium estimation were obtained from subjects and controls at recruitment and after development of pre-eclampsia. Results: Thirty seven pregnant women that developed pre-eclampsia were nested as cases and were matched with 37 controls (apparently healthy pregnant women). The mean serum magnesium at recruitment was 0.75 ± 0.028 mmol/l (cases) and 0.76 ± 0.036 mmol/l (controls) (P = 0.123);this became significant when diagnosis of pre-eclampsia were made with mean of 0.53 ± 0.06 mmol/l (cases) and 0.69 ± 0.08 mmol/l (controls), (P 0.001). There was significant statistical relationship between preterm delivery, low birth weight and need for special care baby unit (SCBU) admission in newborn of mothers with low serum magnesium level (P = 0.001, 0.002 and 0.035 respectively). Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed that hypomagnesaemia appears to be a complication of pre-eclampsia. Serum levels of magnesium were normal until the development of the disease. Serum level of this biomarker affects maternofetal outcome significantly.

Serum Magnesium Levels in Healthy Pregnant and Pre-Eclamptic Patients <br/>—A Cross-Section Study

Background: Pre-eclampsia complicates 2% - 8% of pregnancies. Various efforts have been put forward for its prevention and treatment. Magnesium sulphate is presently the recommended drug for the prevention and treatment of eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia. Objectives: The study aimed to compare the serum magnesium in a healthy pregnant women and pre-eclamptic women. It determined demographic characteristic of the study population and recommended the prophylactic usage of magnesium sulphate in pregnancy in our environment. Method: This was a prospective case control study comparing the serum magnesium levels in pre-eclampsia and normal pregnancy tertiary hospitals. The women who satisfied the inclusion criteria were recruited in the two groups (seventy five in the healthy pregnant women and seventy five in the pre-eclamptic women). The blood samples were collected and analysed for the serum magnesium and urine sample for urinalysis. Result: Total of 150 patients comprises 75 normal pregnant women and 75 cases of pre-eclampsia. The mean serum magnesium in the normal pregnant women was 0.73 (±0.14) mmol/L while in preeclampsia the level was 0.58 (±0.17) mmol/L. This is statistically significant (t = 6.120, p = 0.000). There was significance difference in the mean age of patients with pre-eclampsia and normal pregnancy. The mean parity in the pre-eclampsia was 0.80 and in the normal pregnancy was 1.4 and was statistically significant (t = 3.40, p value < 0.001). The mean gestational age of the pre-eclamptic was 36.5 weeks while it was 28.7 weeks in the normal pregnant women (t = 10.80, p = 0.000). Conclusion: The findings in this research work revealed that the pre-eclamptic women have lower serum magnesium level compared to the normal pregnant women, and it may therefore be interesting to do a larger multicenter study with possibility of developing a marker for this disease of theories.