Routine screening and alternative screening for preeclampsia

Abstract

Preeclampsia is described as the onset of high blood pressure, is usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had been normal.  The traditional screening method for preeclampsia consists of identifying demographic characteristics´s risk, maternal risk factors through clinical history. In the article, each risk factor will be described. We have to bear in mind that the measurement of blood  pressure  to screen for preeclampsia could allow for early identification and diagnosis of the condition, resulting in close 

surveillance and effective treatment to prevent serious complications.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has established that there is adequate evidence on the accuracy of blood pressure measurements to screen for preeclampsia, also found adequate evidence that testing for protein in the urine with a dipstick test has low diagnostic accuracy for detecting proteinuria in pregnancy.

It is important to recognize that risk factors only predict in 30% of cases so the use of laboratory tests and images is an active area of ​​research.

This article describes the alternative screening developed by the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) which has been shown to be superior to the standard method recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ACOG for the detection of women at high risk of developing pre-eclampsia.