Intrauterine haematoma and placental protein 5 in patients with uterine bleeding during pregnancy

summary

The prognostic value of placental protein 5 (5) serum levels were compared with ultrasound in the clinical assessment of 26 patients with uterine bleeding at 12–33 weeks of pregnancy. An intrauterine haematoma was found by ultrasound in 16 patients (62%), and in those patients the duration of pregnancy was significantly shorter than in the 10 who did not have a haematoma. Placental abruption ensued in five patients with haematoma, and although the highest serum 5 level occurred in such a patient, the levels were similar to those in the other patients in whom no abruption was indentified. A clinically important finding was that, in placental abruption, a haematoma may accumulate between the fetal membranes and the uterine wall instead of in the retroplacental space. We conclude that ultrasound examination is more effective than 5 measurement in the assessment of prognosis of patients who bleed during pregnancy.