United States: By using a new blood test, a pregnant person can have their risk for preeclampsia, which may be fatal, assessed during their first trimester.
More about the new test
This is the first and the only US available test at any time which can be availed between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation, which can help in the identification of the risk of preeclampsia before 34 weeks of pregnancy.
The test maker, Labcorp, announced the statement on Wednesday. The first trimester, which includes the period between 0 to 13th weeks, is a phase of pregnancy.
Nevertheless, the new data is not predicted to lead to reconsidering the medication advice for the physicians who will most probably treat preeclampsia patients according to ACOG recommendation. For a very small percentage of doctor, the answer is also not clear if this medicine would be beneficial as well.
Dr. Christopher Zahn, ACOG’s interim CEO and chief of clinical practice and health equity and quality, said, “It is currently unclear how useful the LabCorp test will be in accurately predicting risk for developing preeclampsia and whether it is appropriate for all pregnant patients,” as CNN Health reported.
He said, “Before a screening test can be successfully employed, there needs to be an evidence-based intervention to either prevent or reduce the impact of the disease. We currently have no data on how to reduce the risk for a pregnant patient predicted to have preeclampsia from a blood test early in pregnancy as opposed to clinical factors.”
More about Preeclampsia
The condition known as preeclampsia is one of those complications of pregnancy that develop with elevated blood pressure and high levels of protein in the urine or other signs of damage to the other organs.
This disorder, in general, occurs during the 20th week of pregnancy within the second trimester; however, if it is unattended, it can cause serious or death problems for the mother and baby.
No cure for preeclampsia has been found other than the baby’s delivery, though, in most cases, where the disorder is chronic or serious, the patients are given drugs to lower their blood pressure.
Some issues that may cause someone to get preeclampsia are being more than 35 years old, being pregnant for the first time in their lives, having obesity, having a family history of preeclampsia, having diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, or an autoimmune disease; being pregnant for two or three times; or having done in
The new laboratory test completed by 34 weeks of pregnancy, which is the third trimester, can quantify the patient’s risk of preeclampsia with 90 percent satisfaction and 90 percent specificity, which are according to Labcorp.
Sensitivity denotes how well the test is able to identify the carefully selected population at high risk for certain pregnancy complications, whereas specificity measures the accuracy of the test incorrectly ruling out cases that are not high risk.
Physicians considering this option for their patients may discuss it as an option and, if requested, order it and have the results the day after.
Dr. Brian Caveney, Labcorp’s chief medical and scientific officer, said, “This is one more tool in the tool belt for clinicians in the US and beyond to help deliver better maternal outcomes,” as CNN Health reported.