Placental Growth Factor in 24 to 30 Weeks of gestation as a predictor of Pre Eclampsia

Background: Pre-eclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and is lest understood in aspects of physiology; it awaits sensitive and specific tests for its prediction. Objectives: 1.Placental growth factor is one test that is evolving as a predictor of preeclampsia. Present study aims to evaluate this aspect. 2. To evaluate the value of placental growth factor in predicting the severity of pre eclampsia. 3. To determine the association of placental growth factor with variables such as blood pressure and BMI. Materials and methods: This prospective study was conducted among 80 pregnant mothers between 24 and 30 weeks of gestation to evaluate Placental Growth Factor in predicting the occurrence of preeclampsia. Fasting blood samples were collected from randomly selected pregnant mothers between 24 and 30 weeks and they were followed up for occurrence of preeclampsia and gestational age at which termination of pregnancy was done. Results: Lower level of PlGF was found to be associated with pre eclampsia when compared to those who did not develop pre eclampsia. Conclusion: PlGF as a predictor of pre eclampsia is more promising; the cut of level of PlGF in our population has to be established by more studies.