Simple Blood Tests Identify Pregnant Women at Risk of Serious Complications from Pre-Eclampsia

High blood pressure during pregnancy is a serious condition that can lead to pre-eclampsia, affecting up to 2-8% of pregnancies worldwide. This complication can cause seizures, maternal death, stillbirth, and newborn mortality, with around 46,000 maternal and 500,000 fetal or newborn deaths each year. In many lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs), limited access to diagnostic tools and neonatal care makes the timely detection of pre-eclampsia extremely difficult. Now, a new study has identified two blood tests that offer a rapid way to predict which pregnant women with high blood pressure are most at risk of serious complications.

A study led by researchers at King’s College London (London, UK) and collaborators in Sierra Leone demonstrated the value of two simple blood tests called RONIA and Lepzi Quanti. These tests measure levels of placental growth factor (PlGF), a protein essential for placenta development, which is abnormally low in women with pre-eclampsia. Unlike traditional methods that require lab processing, the tests can be done at the hospital bedside with a finger-prick blood sample, providing results in 15–30 minutes.

The trial involved 488 pregnant women admitted to a hospital in Sierra Leone with suspected pre-eclampsia. The results, published in Hypertension, showed that in women under 34 weeks pregnant, the tests correctly identified 95–100% of those at risk of maternal death or seizures and 100% of babies at risk of stillbirth. Normal results reliably ruled out complications, while abnormal ones indicated a higher risk, guiding the need for closer monitoring or early delivery.

These findings highlight how bedside testing could improve the safety of mothers and babies in resource-limited settings by helping clinicians prioritize care. The tests are simple, quick, and inexpensive, making them practical for use in hospitals with fewer resources. Building on this success, the NIHR Global Health Research Group PAPAGAIO (Preterm pre-eclampsiA: PlAcental Growth factor testing for reduction of Adverse Outcomes) is working to introduce point-of-care PlGF testing in Brazil, India, Sierra Leone, and Zambia to study its impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Serious outcomes such as stillbirths can be easily avoided if we just know who is at risk,” said Professor Andrew Shennan, Professor of Obstetrics at King’s and senior author of the study. “This test accurately provides this knowledge for the first time, and is suitable in settings where stillbirths are common. We are very excited about this test really being able to save lives.”

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