Preeclampsia: Definitions, screening tools and diagnostic criteria in the supersonic era

Abstract

Preeclampsia is still a major risk factor for maternal-fetal health. Therefore, early identification of pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia is a big priority in obstetrics in order to decrease the mortality and morbidity associated with this disease. On the basis of well known and new pathophysiological mechanisms of preeclampsia, different biochemical and ultrasonographic parameters have been investigated in the literature, without finding an ideal marker for early screening. In this brief review, we present the best studied ultrasonographic markers and the most recent genetic factors and promising emerging biomarkers of preeclampsia, to date. We hope that in the future the combination of these tests will allow us to predict which women are at risk of preeclampsia.

Keywords: Preeclampsia; Diagnosis of preeclampsia; Screening of preeclampsia; Ultrasonographic markers of preeclampsia

Core tip: Preeclampsia is a very important disease in pregnancy but substandard care has been found in its management. The core content of this paper is the review of the literature to evaluate possible markers for early diagnosis of preeclampsia.