Blood Test Predicts Preeclampsia Risk
Pregnancy News
Obie Editorial Team
Preeclampsia is a common potentially life-threatening pregnancy-related medical condition, affecting about 1 in 10 pregnancies. Medical complications to mother and child can be severe and lasting including diability and death. If left untreated, eclampsia may develop. Eclampsia symptoms include life-threatening seizures and mental impairment.
At present, there is no known cause of the disorder, no way to predict it with enough certainty. Once it develops, usually after the 20th week of pregnancy, it is important to carefully monitor the woman’s symptoms and prepare for a birth that may come early and may require delivery of the baby.
Statistical evidence suggests who might be at increased risk of developing preeclampsia:
These factors signal a woman who is at increased risk. They do not predict onset of the disorder. A recent study, however, indicates a blood test taken at intervals during pregnancy might be an accurate way of predicting the onset of preeclampsia.
Researchers at the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City, led by Dr. Mardia López-Alarcón, invited 411 women receiving prenatal care at two medical facilities to enroll in their study of chemical changes in the blood during pregnancy to determine if any clues to impending preeclampsia could be detected. Of the invitees, 252 accepted and enrolled in the study. At the time of enrollment, each woman was no more than 20 weeks into pregnancy.
Periodic blood tests were conducted to measure the amount of five elements:
Pregnancy outcomes for the study participants included:
In the women who never developed preeclampsia, the blood concentrations of all five elements under study remained relatively constant throughout pregnancy.
In the 49 who developed preeclampsia, however, the concentrations of ADMA and Hcy rose steadily during the month before symptoms of preeclampsia emerged. This rise was present in women who developed mild symptoms of preeclampsia as well as in those who developed severe symptoms.
The researchers found that spikes in concentration levels of these two chemicals could be used as helpful predictors of preeclampsia developing the following month when concentrations in the blood reached:
According to López-Alarcón, “Of the other factors we tested, obesity and low levels of folic acid at the start of the pregnancy were also independently linked to preeclampsia.” All women in the study were receiving folic acid supplements.
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