Blood test can identify risk for preeclampsia, the leading cause of maternal death
Dr. Ravi Thadhani:
Preeclampsia happens in about 5 to 7 percent of all women who get pregnant in the United States. That's about 200,000 women.
Most preeclampsia happens at term, where it's mild. It's really the preterm preeclampsia that we focus on, because, a woman, if she delivers preterm, the risks for the baby, of course, are incredibly high. The only treatment we have for this condition is the delivery.
We know and understand some risk factors for this condition, Stephanie, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, in vitro fertilization, and so forth. But we truly don't know the cause of this condition. We have a better understanding of the biology as to who gets the condition.
The women that you mentioned, incredibly unfortunate. We know that the condition affects Black woman at a rate of three to five times higher than women who are non-Black. And while we don't understand why that's the case, we have a better understanding, like I said, of the disease overall.
And this test, of course, helps us with that.
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