Abstract

DE LA CAMPA, Jesús Diego; MOREIRA DIAZ, Evelio  and  VALDES ROQUE, Ana Iris. Vitamina A en gestantes evaluadas mediante encuesta dietética e impresión citológica conjuntival. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 1996, vol.12, n.3, pp. 234-241. ISSN 1561-3038.

A descriptive study of longitudinal prospective character was carried out aimed at establishing the vitamin A status of pregnant women at the "Dr. Joaquín Albarrán" Polyclinic by means of a dietetic survey and a conjunctival impression cytology. All pregnant women treated during the first trimester of 1994 (71 patients) were considered as a universe of study. Questionaries were given to them and a conjunctival cytological sample was taken between the 8 and 12 weeks of pregnancy. Body weight and size were also determined. The same procedure was repeated between the 28 and 32 weeks. Alteration of conjunctival cytology was found in a patients on taking the first sample, for 1,4 %. There were no conjunctival alterations in the second sample (the pregnant woman who presented conjunctival cytological anomalies during the first sample consumed food rich in vitamin A limitedly. She was supplemented with neovitamin II and at the time of the second sample she had recovered the normal pattern), which shows that there is no vitamin A deficit as a nutritional problem among the pregnant women of our health area in the group evaluated. The results of this study demonstrate that in spite of the fact that there have been registered moderate frequencies of consumption of food rich in vitamin A, no deficiencies have been detected at the level of effector. This is possibly due to the fact that the amount of food contributions plus the vitamin supplements' dosifications satisfy the security level for keeping the hepatic reserves, providing vitamin A beyond the threshold where the deficiency signs appear

Keywords : PREGNANCY; VITAMIN A; CONJUNCTIVA [cytology]; DIET SURVEYS; FOOD HABITS; BODY WEIGHT; NUTRICIONAL STATUS.