Association of hypertension in pregnancy with serum electrolyte disorders in late pregnancy among Cameroonian women

Multiple electrolyte disorders, including sodium, potassium and calcium disorders, have been associated with hypertension in pregnancy. Most of these studies failed to evaluate the combined effect of low and high sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride ion concentrations on hypertension in pregnancy. This study evaluates the combined effect of these ion categories (low, normal, high) on hypertension in pregnancy. Biochemical ion assays and blood pressure measurements were carried out on 1074 apparently healthy pregnant women in late third trimester. Serum potassium, sodium, chloride, and ionised calcium were measured by ion-selective electrode potentiometry, while total plasma calcium was measured by absorption spectrophotometry. Hypertension in pregnancy was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg. The prevalence of hyponatraemia, hypokalaemia, hypochloraemia, ionised hypocalcaemia and total hypocalcaemia in late pregnancy was 1.30 [0.78–2.18]%, 3.55 [2.60–4.84]%, 1.96 [1.28–2.97]%, 1.49 [0.92–2.21]% and 43.58 [40.64–46.56]%, respectively. Hypernatraemia, hyperkalaemia, hyperchloraemia, ionised hypercalcaemia and total hypercalcaemia were found in 1.49 [0.92–2.41]%, 2.34 [1.59–3.43]%, 4.38 [3.31–5.77]%, 39.94 [37.06–42.90]%, 2.79 [1.96–3.96]% of the participants, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension in pregnancy was 7.17 [5.77–8.87]%. When ion categories were considered in multiple logistic regression, only ionised and total calcium had significant associations with hypertension in pregnancy. Women with ionised hypercalcaemia had lower odds of hypertension in pregnancy (AOR = 0.50 [0.29–0.87], p-value = 0.015), and women with total hypocalcaemia had higher odds of hypertension in pregnancy (AOR = 1.99 [1.21–3.29], p-value = 0.007), compared to women with ionised and total normocalcaemia, respectively. Increasing kalaemia was associated significantly with higher odds of hypertension in pregnancy; however, kalaemia below and above the normal concentrations had no significant association with hypertension. Nonetheless, participants with kalaemia ≤ 3.98 mmol/L, had lower odds of hypertension in pregnancy compared with those with higher kalaemia (OR = 0.40 [0.24–0.66], p-value = 0.0003). Calcium disorders remain the most frequent electrolyte disorders in pregnancy. When normal cut-offs are considered for calcium and other ions, only ionised and total calcium influence the occurrence of hypertension in pregnancy. Kalaemia seems to affect hypertension in pregnancy but primarily within its normal concentrations. Serum electrolyte follow-up is indispensable for a proper pregnancy follow-up.