Placental isoferritin patterns during first-trimester intrauterine gestation.

In this study, serum placental ferritin (PLF) levels were measured among 33 pregnant women with normal, singleton, ongoing first-trimester gestations and compared with 22 nonbleeding, missed and 14 incomplete abortions. Diagnoses were based on clinical, sonographic, endocrinologic and histopathologic criteria. At admission and before uterine evacuation of the pregnancy products, venous blood was collected from the groups for PLF determination. The mean +/- SD serum PLF levels were 18 +/- 14, 21 +/- 37, and 3.9 +/- 6.2 U/ml in normal gestations, missed and incomplete abortions, respectively. Significant differences in PLF levels were found among normal pregnancies and incomplete abortions (p < 0.05), whereas borderline significance was found in the missed abortion group (p = 0.53). No correlation was found between serum beta hCG and PLF for the various pregnancy groups. Low PLF levels in pathologic gestation may reflect abnormal trophoblastic activity. Whether these play a causal role or are the casual outcome of pathologic gestation should be the subject of further evaluation.