THE BEHAVIOR OF AMIDOLYTIC FACTOR-VII IN SMOKING AND NONSMOKING PREGNANT-WOMEN IN RELATION TO THEIR GESTATIONAL-AGE

Objective. Aim of the study was to assess the behavior of factor VII b y commercial amidolytic assay in smoking and non-smoking pregnant wome n, and to compare this with the earlier reported factor VII:C levels d uring pregnancy and to discuss the role of F VII:Am with regard to thr omboembolic complication in smoking pregnant women. Methods. Blood sam ples were obtained for 75 non-smoking pregnant women and 109 smoking p regnant women. For the chromogenic determination of F VII:Am a COA-Set F VII test kit from Kabi Vitrum was used. Correlations were calculate d by the Spearman rank method. The Mann-Whitney-U test was used for th e statistical comparison of the median values of the smoking and non-s moking groups, Results. Both the smoking and non-smoking group display ed a significant increase of F VII: Am with gestational age (r=0.53; p <0.0001 for smokers and r=0.55; p=0.005 for nonsmokers). The median co ncentration of F VII:Am was significantly higher in stage 3 (226%-211% ) and stage 4 (262%-230%) in the smoking group.Conclusion. As elevated F VII:C levels have been described to be a risk factor for thrombotic events, the even higher than normally already enhanced plasma levels of F VII:Am in smoking pregnant women may indicate an additional risk for both thrombosis in the pregnant and for an increased fetal morbidi ty and even mortality caused by thrombotic processes in the uteroplace ntal vasculature. The results from the present study might be an extra argument to advise pregnant women not to smoke or to quit smoking dur ing pregnancy.