Background: Whatever its etiology, the inflammatory reactions of preeclampsia lead to the activation of endothelium and result in vascular damage. CRP is considered a sensitive index of systemic inflammation, so it is used as predictive factor for disease. This study was carried out to test the screening and predictive abilities of the CRP test in order to detect and diagnose pregnant women prone to preeclampsia prior to the onset of symptoms.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, conducted in Arash Hospital between 2005 and 2006, we determined the CRP levels of 201 pregnant women at 10-16 weeks of pregnancy. Based on exclusion criteria and illness, 31 patients were excluded and 170 patients were followed until the end of their pregnancies.

Results: In this study, the mean serum CRP values of those who had preeclamptic and those who had normal pregnancies were compared and the statistical differences were significant: 6.18 mg/L for preeclamptic patients compared with 4.12 mg/L for normal patients (p=0.003). Using a chi-square test, we found that patients whose CRP level was ≥4 were six times more likely to have preeclampsia than those with CRP levels <4 (k=9.4; p=0.002; OR=6.15; 95% CI=0.69-22.28).

Conclusion: This study confirms the results of previous reports indicating a significant relationship between rising serum CRP in the first trimester of pregnancy and preeclampsia at third trimester. More studies consisting of other inflammation factors are necessary to find an acceptable and reasonable screening test to diagnose pregnant women who are prone to preeclampsia.