Secondary outcomes
The results of the meta-analysis of investigated secondary variables is summarized in Table 2 . Briefly, significant increased levels of LDH were observed among cases with HELLP compared to cases with preeclampsia and cases with eclampsia. Early onset preeclampsia cases had also significantly increased levels of LDH compared to controls. The remaining differences were not significant.
The diagnostic accuracy of LDH in predicting preeclampsia could not be explored; instead, odds ratios of developing maternal morbidity and perinatal fetal/neonatal death outcomes were determined. Specifically, we observed that the odds of developing HELLP, renal failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and pulmonary edema were increased when serum LDH levels exceeded 600 IU/L and particularly when these increased more than 800 IU/L (Appendix & Table 3 ). Perinatal fetal/neonatal mortality was also more likely to occur.