Maternal serum lipids in some women with pre-eclampsia in Yaoundé.

Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and occurs in approximately 3-8% of all pregnancies worldwide. Although the aetiology of preeclampsia still largely remains unclear, it is thought to be related to endothelial dysfunction and can lead to serum lipid abnormalities. Therefore, this case-control study was conceived and designed with the aim to compare maternal lipid profile parameters and cardiovascular risk factors, between preeclamptic and healthy pregnancies. Blood samples were collected after overnight fasting from 48 preeclamptics and 96 healthy pregnant controls matched for age and gestational weeks and serum lipid profile concentrations were estimated and used them to calculate cardiac risk ratio I and II. There was a significant rise in serum lipid levels in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. These lipids turn out to be risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Positive correlation of maternal serum lipids to high blood pressure suggests a causal relationship.