Objective: To describe leukocyte count and differential distribution in preeclampsia and uncomplicated pregnancy. Study design: Blood samples were obtained from 46 consecutive preeclamptic patients and 46 controls with uncomplicated pregnancy. Thirty met the criteria for mild preeclampsia and 16 for severe. The blood was tested within 1 h of venepuncture. An aliquot of the blood was tested in the Cell-Dyn 2000 for complete blood cell count. Main Results: The absolute neutrophil count was significantly elevated in preeclamptic patients as compared with that of controls with uncomplicated pregnancy (9,410.1 ± 3,066.9 vs. 7,498.6 ± 2,354.0 × 10⁶/l, p < 0.05). In neutrophils, the elevation was more prominent in severe preeclamptic patients as compared with mild preeclamptic patients (10,658.8 ± 3520.4 vs. 8,694.4 ± 2,561.9 × 10⁶/l, p < 0.05). The absolute lymphocyte and eosinophil counts declined in patients with preeclampsia as compared with uncomplicated pregnancy, whereas monocyte and basophil counts did not differ. Conclusion: Our results suggest that preeclampsia is associated with an increase in the absolute neutrophil count.

The objective of this paper is to determine the characteristics of each phase of lochia and how these may be influenced by a number of obstetric variables. Thirtynine healthy women who had spontaneous vaginal delivery following uncomplicated pregnancy volunteered to complete a diary sheet immediately postpartum. The women were instructed to assess the color of their lochia by a color slide with differential gradation from dark red to white. The color was labeled as rubra (red, red-brown), serosa (brown-pink, brown), or alba (yellow, white). The overall duration of lochia was 36.0 Ϯ 7.5 days (range 17 to 51 days, median 37 days). Three types of lochia color patterns were identified: type 1-rubra¡serosa¡alba sequence (n = 20); type 2-rubra¡ serosa¡alba sequence with prolonged rubra phase and short serosa and alba phases (n = 11); and type 3-with two rubra phases (rubra¡serosa/alba¡rubra¡serosa/alba sequence with near-equal duration of each phase) (n = 8). The rubra phase lasts 12.1 Ϯ 6.7 days in type 1, 24.8 Ϯ 5.0 days in type 2, and 5.5 Ϯ 2.5 days (the first rubra) in type 3 pattern (p < 0.05). There was a higher proportion of lactating women among women with type 1 pattern as compared with type 2 (11/20 and 2/11, p < 0.05, respectively). Women with type 2 pattern were of higher parity (2.8 Ϯ 1.3) as compared with those with type 1 (1.8 Ϯ 0.8) (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in infants' birth weight between the various color types (3276.0 Ϯ 379.8 g, 3564.4 Ϯ 737.9 g, and 3080.0 Ϯ 180.0 g for type 1, type 2, and type 3, respectively. There were no significant differences in overall duration of lochia or gestational age at delivery between the various color types. The results confirm the clinical impression that lochia persists longer than classically reported and is of diverse patterns. Three unique types of color patterns were identified. Type 1 is the most prevalent and is associated with prolonged breast feeding and thus can be considered as the classic type. Type 2 is associated with short or no breast feeding and higher parity. Type 3 may be a variant of type 2. We suggest that traditional teaching on lochia characteristics needs reappraisal.

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