Objective: To determine whether the reported decrease in maternal serum placenta growth factor concentration in preeclampsia is evident from the first trimester and before clinical onset of the disease. We also examined levels in pregnancies that subsequently resulted in fetal growth restriction (FGR).
Methods: Placenta growth factor concentration was measured in stored maternal serum samples obtained at 11-14 weeks of gestation from 131 women who subsequently developed preeclampsia, 137 women who subsequently developed FGR, and 400 randomly selected controls who did not develop preeclampsia or FGR. Preeclampsia was defined as diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or more on two occasions 4 hours apart, accompanied by proteinuria (more than 300 mg of total protein in a 24-hour urine collection or a positive test for albumin on reagent strip) in women with no pre-existing hypertensive or renal disease. Fetal growth restriction was considered present if a woman subsequently delivered a live infant with a birth weight below the fifth centile for gestation.
Results: In the control group, maternal serum placenta growth factor concentration increased with gestation. Compared with the controls (median multiple of the median 0.98, standard deviation [SD] 0.51), levels in the preeclampsia group (median multiple of the median 1.09, SD 0.52) were not significantly different (t = 1.83, P = .07), but in the FGR group (median multiple of the median 1.57, SD 0.74), levels were significantly increased (t = 10.85, P < .001).
Conclusion: The previously reported decrease in serum placenta growth factor levels in women with preeclampsia might not precede clinical onset of the disease and is not apparent in the first trimester of pregnancy. Levels are significantly increased in pregnancies resulting in FGR.