The research, led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is reported in the January 5, 2005 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Preeclampsia, or toxemia, typically develops after the 20th week of pregnancy and is characterized by high blood pressure, edema and protein in the urine. However, in severe cases -- and without warning -- it can rapidly escalate to eclampsia, a condition in which a massive rise in blood pressure causes the mother to suffer a series of potentially fatal complications and forces premature delivery of the infant. The condition develops in approximately five percent of all pregnancies, affecting an estimated 200,000 women in the U.S. each year. Worldwide, it is one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality.
"Unfortunately, the only means currently available to identify preeclampsia is weekly monitoring of women's blood pressure and testing for proteinuria [abnormal levels of protein in the urine] during the third trimester of pregnancy," explains the study's senior author Ananth Karumanchi, MD, a nephrologist in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School. "And by the time a rise in blood pressure has been detected it may already be too late, as the condition can very rapidly spiral out of control."
In 2003, a study conducted by Karumanchi and his colleagues published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggested that preeclampsia was caused by an imbalance of circulating angiogenic growth factor molecules, which enable the growth of small blood vessels.
Contact: Bonnie Prescott
bprescot@bidmc.harvard.edu
617-667-7306
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
4-Jan-2005