Pre-eclampsia: FDA approves blood test to identify pregnant women at risk

A blood test that predicts the risk of pre-eclampsia, intended as an early warning in pregnant women who are already in hospital with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The test is already used in Europe.The test, marketed by Thermo Fisher Scientific, is an immunoassay that measures the ratio of serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) to placental growth factor (PlGF) in women who are admitted to hospital for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The test is the first of its kind, and it predicted with 96% accuracy the women who would not develop severe pre-eclampsia within the next two weeks in a clinical trial.12Pre-eclampsia affects about one in 25 pregnancies in the US. “Black women are disproportionately affected,” said obstetrician-gynaecologist Camille Clare, professor of health policy and management at the School of Public Health, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in…
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