Plasma fibronectin: predictive factor in gestational hypertension?

Our purpose was to evaluate fibronectin as a marker of endothelial cell injury, and as a test for predicting preeclampsia. A retrospective study was performed from November 1993 to March 1995. Results from 142 women were examined: 108 normal pregnant women and 34 pregnant women with evidence of preeclampsia. The plasma fibronectin concentration was significantly higher in pre-eclamptic gravidas (620 +/- 210 mg/l) than in normotensive gravidae women (390 +/- 130 mg/l). A fibronectin concentration lower than 400 mg/l predicted the non-development of a hypertension with a negative predictive value of 96%. The present findings suggest that fibronectin is rather an exclusion parameter than predictive test for hypertension disorders of pregnancy.