PLACENTAL DIAMETER AND THICKNESS AND NUMBER OF COTYLEDONS IN MILD AND SEVERE PREGNANCY INDUCED HYPERTENSIVE WOMEN VERSUS NORMOTENSIVE WOMEN OF DISTRICT D.I.KHAN, PAKISTAN

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) adversely affects the development of placenta and growth of fetus. The objectives of this study were to compare the placental diameter, placental thickness and number of cotyledons in mild PIH and severe PIH women versus normotensive women of District D.I.Khan, Pakistan.Material Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Anatomy, Gomal Medical College, D.I.Khan, Pakistan from January to October 2014. Three samples were selected; each of size 50, group 1 normotensive/ control, group 2 with mild PIH and group 3 with severe PIH. Three research variables; placental diameter (cm), thickness (mm) and number of cotyledons were measured on ratio scale for three groups. Descriptive analysis included mean± SD with 95% confidence intervals for each group separately. With three groups on ratio data, one way-ANOVA test was applied to see significance of difference between three groups. Post hoc Dunnett’s t test was applied at alpha 0.05 to see difference of mild PIH group 2 to normotensive/ control group 1 and of severe PIH group 3 to normotensive/ control group 1separately.Results: Mean placental diameter was 18.28±2.15, 16.57±1.94 and 16.18±1.75 cm and mean placental thickness was 19.33 ±3.70, 19.18±2.78 and 17.60±3.52 mm in group 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Mean number of cotyledons was 14.42±2.25, 14.08±2.30 and 13.16±2.15 in group 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Placental diameter was statistically significantly lower in group 2 (p=.00001) and 3 (p=.00001) than group 1. Placental thickness in group 2 (p=.957) was similar to group 1, while in group 3 (p=.019) it was lower than group 1. Number of cotyledons in group 2 (p=.666) was similar to group 1, while in group 3 (p=.011) it was lower than group 1.Conclusion: In mild pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), placental diameter was lower than normotensives, while placental thickness and number of cotyledons were similar to normotensives. In severe PIH, placental diameter, placental thickness and number of cotyledons were all lower than normotensives. It is concluded that in mild PIH, the development of placenta is mildly affected, while in severe PIH, the development of placenta is severely affected.