Preeclampsia Risk Assessment: Evaluation of Cut-offs to Improve Stratification

Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality in the US, and
affects about 5% of pregnancies. Despite its morbidity, preeclampsia is challenging to
distinguish from worsening chronic hypertension or gestational hypertension. Furthermore, it
is challenging to identify who among those with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy will
develop preeclampsia with severe features, including kidney, liver, pulmonary, or cerebral
injury. The only definitive treatment is delivery of the placenta, and therefore the fetus,
which can lead to severe morbidity and mortality to the neonate if delivery is very
premature. New methods of risk stratification are needed to identify who among women with
hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are at risk of developing preeclampsia with severe
features in order to allocate resources (e.g. betamethasone and magnesium for fetal
neuroprotection) accordingly.

Several serum proteins (sFLT-1 and PlGF) correlate well with the development of preeclampsia,
particularly with preeclampsia with severe features, and may be used to predict the
development of preeclampsia with severe features within a certain timeframe. The goal of this
study is to identify a cut-off of the sFLT-1/PlGF ratio using automated assays that
differentiates women who will develop preeclampsia with severe features from those who will
not among women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy within 2 weeks of testing. The
secondary outcomes include time to delivery, the performance of the cut-off to predict
adverse maternal and adverse fetal outcomes, and a comparison of the performance of the
cut-off with clinical and laboratory factors per American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines. Investigators will also look at the levels of sFLT-1 and
PlGF in the urine and the saliva to determine if they correlate well with serum levels and
may provide a less invasive alternative to serum samples.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Signed informed consent in a pregnant woman ≥ 18 years of age.

- Gestational age 23+0 to 34+6/7 weeks

- Singleton pregnancy

- Hospitalized for a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (preeclampsia, chronic
hypertension with or without superimposed preeclampsia or gestational hypertension) as
defied by ACOG guidelines.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients who have received heparin within 24 hours of enrollment.

- Patients who are currently participating in another clinical trial to evaluate a
therapeutic intervention or who have participated in another such trial in the
previous 30 days.

- Multiple gestations.