Screening for pre‐eclampsia using pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A or placental growth factor measurements in blood samples collected at 8–14 weeks' gestation

Mar 24, 2025Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Using early pregnancy blood tests to screen for pre-eclampsia

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Abstract

In a study of 8,386 women, PAPP-A levels were shown to be less effective for screening preterm compared to .

  • Median PAPP-A levels in pregnancies that developed preterm pre-eclampsia were 0.78, 0.80, and 0.64 at different gestational weeks.
  • No significant improvement in preterm pre-eclampsia detection rates was observed when combining PAPP-A or PlGF with maternal factors before 10 weeks.
  • PAPP-A only slightly increased preterm pre-eclampsia detection rates when samples were collected at or after 10 weeks.
  • PlGF significantly improved detection rates of preterm pre-eclampsia from 31.3% to 56.3% when combined with maternal factors after 10 weeks.
  • Combining PlGF with maternal factors, mean arterial pressure, and uterine artery pulsatility index raised detection rates from 50.9% to 67.3% at 11-14 weeks.

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Key numbers

25.0%
Increase in Detection Rate with
Detection rate increased from 31.3% to 56.3% at a 10% SPR with at 10-14 weeks.
16.4%
Detection Rate Increase at 11-14 Weeks
Detection rate increased from 50.9% to 67.3% when combining with maternal factors, MAP, and UtA-PI.

Full Text

What this is

  • This research evaluates the effectiveness of (PAPP-A) and () in screening for preterm ().
  • Data were collected from 8386 women participating in the PRESIDE study, focusing on blood samples taken at 8-14 weeks' gestation.
  • The study compares the screening performance of PAPP-A and , particularly their ability to predict preterm .

Essence

  • PAPP-A has limited utility in first-trimester screening for preterm , while significantly enhances detection rates when measured at 10-14 weeks' gestation.

Key takeaways

  • PAPP-A did not improve detection rates for preterm when combined with maternal factors in samples collected before 10 weeks. In contrast, significantly increased detection rates when measured at or after 10 weeks.
  • In samples collected at 10-14 weeks, raised the detection rate from 31.3% to 56.3% at a 10% screen-positive rate (SPR) when combined with maternal factors. This represents a 25.0% increase in detection rate.
  • When was combined with maternal factors, mean arterial pressure, and uterine artery pulsatility index at 11-14 weeks, the detection rate increased from 50.9% to 67.3%, a 16.4% improvement.

Caveats

  • The study included a relatively low number of women with preterm across the gestational age windows examined, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
  • All participating hospitals were university hospitals, which may not represent the broader population of pregnant women.

Definitions

  • pre-eclampsia (PE): A pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organ systems, typically occurring after 20 weeks of gestation.
  • pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A): A protein produced by the placenta during pregnancy, used as a biomarker in screening for certain pregnancy complications.
  • placental growth factor (PlGF): A protein involved in the growth of blood vessels in the placenta, serving as a biomarker for assessing the risk of pre-eclampsia.

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