Preeclampsia Screening Using the Ratio of Soluble FMS-Like Tyrosine Kinase-1 to Placental Growth Factor During Pregnancy in Pregnant Korean Women.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We retrospectively investigated soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1)/placental growth factor (PlGF) ratios and screen-positive rates according to cutoff values for preeclampsia risk assessment based on the number of fetuses. METHODS: sFlt-1/PlGF ratios < 38.0 and < 53.0 were defined as low risk of preeclampsia (screen negative) for singleton and twin pregnancies, respectively. RESULTS: During the study period, 442 test results from 403 pregnant women (374 with singleton and 29 twin pregnancies) from 32 local clinics and hospitals were analyzed. The overall rate of positive preeclampsia screening was 25.1% and this rate was higher when gestational age was ≥ 34 weeks than when it was < 34 weeks (58.7% vs. 18.6%, p < 0.05). Among 34 women with follow-up results, a change in interpretation category was observed during the follow-up period at ≥ 4.8 weeks for singleton and ≥ 1.6 weeks for twin pregnancies, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study may help to understand the sFlt-1/PlGF ratio in pregnant Korean women.