Placental Growth Factor Testing to Assess and Diagnose Preeclampsia: A Stepped Wedge Randomised Controlled Trial

K.E. Duhig, J. Myers, Paul T. Seed, R.M. Hunter, A.H. Shennan, L.C. Chappell

Research output: Other contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Background Previous prospective cohort studies have demonstrated that angiogenic factor measurements have high diagnostic accuracy in women with suspected pre-eclampsia, but the clinical impact of these tests when revealed to clinicians remains uncertain. Methods We conducted a multi-centre, pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in eleven UK maternity units (3000-9000 deliveries per annum). Women who presented with suspected pre-eclampsia between 20 0 and 36 6 weeks' gestation were invited to participate. Maternity units were randomly assigned to the order of implementation of revealed PlGF measurement, incorporated within a clinical management algorithm; in the usual care arm, PlGF measurement remained concealed. The primary outcome was time from presentation with suspected pre-eclampsia to documented pre-eclampsia. Secondary outcomes included other maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. Findings Between June 2016 and October 2017, 1,023 women with suspected pre-eclampsia were enrolled. Median time to preeclampsia diagnosis decreased from 4·1 days (usual care) to 1·9 days (intervention) (time ratio 0·39 (95% CI 0·17-0·91) by parametric survival analysis). Maternal severe adverse outcomes reduced from 5·4% (usual care group) to 3·8% ((intervention group) adjusted OR 0·32 (95% CI 0·11-0·96) with no evidence of a difference in perinatal adverse outcomes. Interpretation PlGF testing has been shown to substantially reduce the time to clinical confirmation of preeclampsia. Where PlGF was implemented there was a reduction in maternal adverse outcomes, consistent with targeted, enhanced surveillance as recommended in the trial management guidance for clinicians. Adoption of PlGF testing in women with suspected pre-eclampsia is supported by the results of this study. Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN 16842031 Funding: This trial was supported by grants from the National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit Programme (PB-PG-0214-33054) and National Institute for Health Research Professorship (Chappell RP-2014-05-019). Declaration of Interest: KD, LCC, PS, JM and AS have no conflicts of interest. RH has received writing fees from Alere for previous work Ethical Approval: The trial was approved by the London South East Research Ethics Committee (ref. 15/LO/2058). © 2018, The Authors. All rights reserved.
Original languageUndefined
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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