Antepartum percutaneous renal biopsy

Objective: To assess the value and adverse effects of an ultrasound -guided renal biopsy technique in women with normal and pathotogic pregnancies. Method: Biopsy samples were taken from 36 women with hypertensive disease (28 with pre-eclampsia) and 18 healthy pregnant women using a thin needle and an ultrasound -guided biopsy device. Results: Gtomerutar endotheliosis, a structural change typical of pre-eclampsia, was found in all hypertensive women, but it was more pronounced in the 28 pre-eclamptic women than in the 8 women with nonproteinuric hypertension. A similar change, however, was seen in 11 of the 18 controls. One serious adverse event occurred, retroperitoneat hematoma, in the woman with the most severe pre-eclampsia. Conclusion: Glomerular endotheliosis is not to be considered pathognomonic for pre-eclampsia. Few complications followed renal biopsy in this study, but complications arose in the sickest patient. It is probably not advisable to perform anteparturn renal biopsies in pregnant women with a rapidly deteriorating renal function and swollen kidneys. In these women, the biopsy does not facilitate diagnosis and is hazardous. (c) 2007 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. AR rights reserved.