[A rapid method for diabetes screening in pregnancy]

Abstract

Gestational diabetes affects about 3% of pregnancies in German-speaking countries. Roughly one third of these pregnancies develop a requirement of insulin. In unrecognised and hence untreated pregnancies, perinatal morbidity and mortality are increased 20-fold. Gestational diabetes is asymptomatic and only 60% of patients have risk factors for the condition; thus, general screening with oral glucose tolerance testing is necessary to detect all cases. Most antenatal medical care is provided by gynaecologists in practice and by general practitioners who do not have a sophisticated laboratory at their immediate disposal. General screening requires a test that is simple, inexpensive and quick but nonetheless meets high quality standards. A new microcuvette rapid test fulfills these requirements; the results are ready within a few minutes' time. We performed parallel blood glucose measurements with a standard enzymatic method and with the rapid test in 500 unselected pregnant women undergoing an oral glucose tolerance test at our obstetric clinic. The mean fasting, 1-hr and 2-hr values were 77,128 and 106 mg/dl, respectively, as measured by the enzymatic test and 75,129 and 107 mg/dl as measured by the rapid test. The results of the reference enzymatic method and the rapid test agreed at a high level of significance (r = 0.98; p < 0.0001).