Saving money, worry, and time: A possible test for ruling out preeclampsia
Ruling out preeclampsia in the next 4 weeks using a soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1/placental growth factor ratio ≤38: secondary analysis of the Interventional Study on Prediction of Preeclampsia/Eclampsia in Women With Suspected Preeclampsia
A study in 2019 found that the level of two molecules in the blood of pregnant women (called the “s-Flt-1/PlGF ratio”) can help rule out suspected preeclampsia within 4 weeks of disease. Researchers for this study asked if this ratio worked to help rule out preeclampsia in a real-world setting. Researchers used data from a study called INSPIRE (“Interventional Study on Prediction of Preeclampsia-Eclampsia” trial) and calculated this ratio among women in the study who did and did not develop preeclampsia. The researchers found a strong negative predictive value of 97% for the ratio value to rule of preeclampsia; meaning among those women who had a “negative” ratio score, the probability of not developing preeclampsia was 97%.
Take home message: There is validity and value in using the sFLT-1/PlGF ratio for women that have suspected preeclampsia to reduce the costs, patient anxiety, and inconvenience that comes with unnecessary hospital admission or repeated follow ups with healthcare providers.
Link: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0002937821025436?token=DCC29D3A73A9F46F156087C712A52785416B
About Research Roundup
Each quarter, our team of researchers reviews the most current studies related to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and selects those studies they feel will be of greatest interest to our community to summarize.
Special thanks to our volunteer research team, who under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Sutton, make Research Roundup possible: Alisse Hauspurg, MD Felicia LeMoine, MD Jenny Sones, PhD, DVM, and Robin Trupp, PhD, RN.
Related Articles
While the foundations of preeclampsia are believed to develop in the early stages of pregnancy, the current screening process occurs at 20 weeks, nearly half way through the second trimester. When cli...
Research suggests that preeclampsia may develop in a two-stage process. The first stage involves challenges to the way that the placenta implants and grows. In a normal pregnancy, a type of placental...
The risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) significantly increases for patients who experience gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or other hypertensive disorders of preg...
Cerebral complications from preeclampsia and eclampsia are a major cause of maternal mortality and long-term neurological impact. Understanding pathophysiology (changes in how the body works as a resu...
A new research study suggests that blood pressure changes during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy—called blood pressure trajectories—may give providers a peek at a woman’s risk of dev...