Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy.
With preeclampsia, you might have high blood pressure, high levels of protein in urine that indicate kidney damage (proteinuria), or other signs of organ damage.
Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women whose blood pressure had previously been in the standard range.
Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious — even fatal — complications for both the mother and baby.
Early delivery of the baby is often recommended.
The timing of delivery depends on how severe the preeclampsia is and how many weeks pregnant you are.
Before delivery, preeclampsia treatment includes careful monitoring and medications to lower blood pressure and manage complications.
Preeclampsia may develop after delivery of a baby, a condition known as postpartum preeclampsia.
Symptoms:
The defining feature of preeclampsia is high blood pressure, proteinuria, or other signs of damage to the kidneys or other organs.
You may have no noticeable symptoms.
Along with high blood pressure, preeclampsia signs and symptoms may include:
Excess protein in urine (proteinuria) or other signs of kidney problems.
Decreased levels of platelets in blood (thrombocytopenia).
Increased liver enzymes that indicate liver problems.
Severe headaches
Changes in vision, including temporary loss of vision, blurred vision or light sensitivity.
Shortness of breath, caused by fluid in the lungs.
Pain in the upper belly, usually under the ribs on the right side
Nausea or vomiting
Weight gain and swelling (edema) are typical during healthy pregnancies. However, sudden weight gain or a sudden appearance of edema — particularly in your face and hands — may be a sign of preeclampsia.
Causes:
The exact cause of preeclampsia likely involves several factors.
Experts believe it begins in the placenta — the organ that nourishes the fetus throughout pregnancy.
Early in a pregnancy, new blood vessels develop and evolve to supply oxygen and nutrients to the placenta.
In women with preeclampsia, these blood vessels don't seem to develop or work properly.
Problems with how well blood circulates in the placenta may lead to the irregular regulation of blood pressure in the mother.
Early prediction of preeclampsia using a biomarker
Early-onset preeclampsia — occurring before 34 weeks of gestation — is associated with a higher risk of severe disease and foetal mortality.
Among the few interventions available, low-dose aspirin at early stages of the disease (before 16 weeks of gestation) can reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia.
But early identification of the disease is needed to initiate this intervention.
A liquid-biopsy approach that measures DNA-methylation levels in the blood may improve the detection of pregnancies at risk of developing preeclampsia at early stages, a study published in Nature Medicine shows.
Previous studies have shown that widespread methylation changes in the placenta occur at delivery.
Liquid biopsy is a promising emerging tool for non-invasive diagnostics, and it is increasingly being used to detect disease and monitor progression and treatment response.
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