Establishment of Immunohematological Reference Values among HIV Sero-negative Pregnant Women at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Normal pregnancy is characterized by profoundchanges in almost every organ and system. Immunohematologicalparameters are important in clinical practice for the assessment ofhealth and disease. Therefore, this study was aimed to establishimmunohematological reference range among HIV sero-negativepregnant women.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HIVsero-negative pregnant women at St. Paul’s Hospital MillenniumMedical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 20/1-30/6/ 2016. Whole blood was collected and immunological andhematological parameters were measured following the standardprocedure. Data were entered in to Epi Info version 3.5, checkedfor completeness and exported to SPSS version 20 software foranalysis. The mean ± SD and 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI)values were calculated for different immunohematologicalparameters.RESULTS: A total of 400 women with mean age ±SD (27.3 ±4.7)ranging from18-40 years were enrolled. The mean ± SD referencevalue of white blood cells count with 95% CI was 8.3 ±2.3 (8.1-8.6)x10 9 cells/L and for CD4 + , CD8 + , and CD4to CD8 ratio cellsabsolute count with 95% CI were 906 ±404 (867-946), 698± 378(662-736) cell/μl, and 1.5±0.9 (1.4-1.6), respectively.The mean ± SD reference values for red blood cells count with 95%CI was 4.5±0.5(4.4-4.5) 10 12 /L, for hemoglobin 14±7.2(13.3-14.7)gm/dl, and for hematocrite was 39.5± 4(39-39.9).CONCLUSIONS: These values were lower than the one fromdeveloped countries but not lower than the one from other Africanstudies. It suggests the need for further large study.