European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: One form of hypertension in pregnancy is preeclampsia, which is characterized by blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mm of Hg and protein in urine at gestational age after 20 weeks. Preeclampsia is a global problem affecting 2-8% of pregnancies, and an estimated 8.3 million pregnant women experience preeclampsia every year.  In this review we will look at potential biomarkers and its correlation with uterine artery Doppler for early prediction and diagnosis of preeclampsia. Aim: To investigate the role of placental growth factor, and uterine artery diastolic notch to predict the early onset of preeclampsia. Materials And Methods: A hospital based prospective study conducted on 100 normotensive, non- proteinuric antenatal women less than 20 weeks of gestation were recruited. At 12-16 weeks, PLGF level was estimated from stored serum samples of all cases ad Doppler assessment of uterine circulation for uterine artery indices were done. These women were again rescanned at 24 weeks of gestation by transabdominal USG and further followed up clinically for development of preeclampsia. Methods used for the detection of PLGF is ELISA kit ad Uterine artery Doppler velocimetry was done by transabdominal ultrasound machine using a 4-6 MHz probe with the same sonographer Results: In this study,the median PLGF levels being significantly lower in pre-eclampsia cases (15 pg/ml) compared to normal (20.0pg/ml) with sensitivity being 90% and specificity being 23.4%, positive predictive value of 15.5% and negative predictive value of 93.8%. When Uterine arteries notch and RI >0.65 taken together increases sensitivity by 85.71%, 84.62% specificity and negative predictive value by 98.25%.  We found 52.3% sensitivity rate and 84.62% specificity with  70.51% of Negative predictive value regarding Uterine arteries PI  at >0.9573 with Optimal Cut off.  Conclusion: The combined measurement of maternal serum PlGF concentrations and The uterine artery notching, high Resistance Index and Pulsatility Index in uterine artery Doppler waveform at <20 weeks has shown as best screening test for early prediction of preeclampsia.