Evaluating Prothrombin Time (Pt) of Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Plateau State Specialist Hospital Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Physiological hypercoagulable state has been reported in pregnancy, which is believed to be directed at protecting pregnant women from potential haemorrhage during placentation and post-partum periods. In the current antenatal care, blood coagulation screens are not considered. This study was carried out to determine the Prothrombin Time (PT) of uncomplicated pregnant women to evaluate for the status of extrinsic coagulation pathway during pregnancy. A case-control study was designed comprising of 45 uncomplicated pregnant women; consisting of 15 each in the first, second and third trimester respectively. Twenty-five age-matched healthy non-pregnant women were used as the control population. Both the study and control participants granted oral and written consents to participate in the study. The Quick’s one - stage Prothrombin Time test of citrated samples from both the study and control cohorts were carried out in duplicates, and average values (in seconds) were reported. Student t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant decrease (P-value =0.002) in the mean PT of the pregnant women (12.82 seconds with SD of ±1.84) compared to the control group (14.29 seconds with SD of ±1.75). The study also showed a significant gradual decrease in the mean PT as pregnancy progresses toward term as 13.85 ± 1.68, 13.21 ± 1.51 and 11.40 ± 1.47 in the first, second and third trimesters respectively (P- value=0.001). We, therefore, suggest the introduction of routine PT in conjunction with evaluation of the intrinsic coagulation pathway by APTT at antenatal care as a screen to help monitor coagulation disorder in pregnancy.