[Hemostasis and pre-eclampsia].

A longitudinal study has been undertaken in 125 pregnant women between 25 and 40 weeks of gestation, to provide systematic information on the changes that occur in a wide range of haemostasiological and haemorheological variables. Fibrinogen, D-Dimer, Factor VIIIR: Ag, erythrocyte aggregation and plasma viscosity rose markedly throughout pregnancy. Antithrombin III and alpha 2-antiplasmin were unchanged during pregnancy. There were no significant differences between women in the pre-eclamptic group (N = 16) and the control group. HELLP syndrome (N = 7) was associated with high D-Dimer (p less than 0.05), and TAT (p less than 0.05), low antithrombin III (p less than 0.03), protein C (p less than 0.01) and platelets (p less than 0.001). Our results demonstrate that during pregnancy (also, however, in pre-eclamptic women) alterations of the coagulation system occur, but these changes do not affect the overall haemostatic balance. Findings in patients with "true" HELLP syndrome are consistent with an increased tendency for intravascular coagulation.