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
Recent findings in preeclampsia research have shown that preeclampsia likely has at least two variants – an early onset and a late onset variant. Early onset is typically defined as before 34 we...
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication marked by new-onset high blood pressure and signs of stress on organs such as the kidneys, liver, and brain. While much attention is often given to preterm dis...
Preeclampsia is a serious problem that can happen during pregnancy. It often affects the brain and can cause headaches, vision problems, strong reflexes, and seizures (called eclampsia). In this study...
Pregnancy offers a unique window into a woman’s future heart and cardiovascular health. Conditions such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) which include gestational hypertension, preec...
Heart disease, also called cardiovascular disease (CVD), is becoming more common in young women across the United States. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) is a group of conditions that includ...