Preeclampsia can be deadly for expectant mothers and their unborn babies. Researchers have now found that the troponin level in the blood can predict the risk in pregnant women.
About five percent of all women develop one during pregnancy Preeclampsia, which in severe cases can be life-threatening for both mother and child and may require an emergency caesarean section. So far, the risk has been rather unspecific based on factors such as Diabetes, overweight or age of the mother determined.
Prof. Dirk Westermann, Medical Director of the Clinic for Cardiology and Angiology at the University Medical Center Freiburg, presented a completely new approach at the congress of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, USA. The Freiburg cardiologist and his team showed that using commercially available Troponin-Tests Patients at risk could be identified much earlier and more precisely than before. Troponin tests have long been used in acute diagnostics for suspected Heart attack deployed.
Predict severe courses
“We were able to show that the troponin level in the blood is very closely associated with the risk of later preeclampsia. Severe courses in particular can probably be predicted very well with this. This could enable early and targeted prevention in the future,” says Westermann.
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The numerous risk factors for preeclampsia include obesity, diabetes, previous multiple pregnancies and a very young or old age of the mother. If several of these factors come together, the pregnant women are closely monitored and also receive prophylactic medication Aspirin. But: “Not all women with risk factors actually develop preeclampsia. We were able to show that preeclampsia did not occur in women with low troponin levels despite risk factors. Around 40 percent of the women would not have needed closer care,” says Westermann. For their study, the Freiburg doctors examined 3,080 blood samples from four international studies from a total of 2,293 pregnant women.
test with benefit
“We can already treat women with preeclampsia very well today. So far, however, the causes of the disease are unknown, which makes diagnosis significantly more difficult. A reliable test that can indicate the development of preeclampsia at an early stage would be of great help,” says Prof. Ingolf Juhasz-Böss, Medical Director of the Department of Gynecology at the University Hospital in Freiburg.
In the next step, the researchers want to check their results in a prospective study and combine the data from the troponin test with other risk factors. In this way, the safety of pregnant women and their unborn children could be further increased.
The post is based on a press release of the University Hospital Freiburg.
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