It is believed that scientists have found a way to predict the onset of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women with the use of a blood test.
Melbourne researchers are confident the new blood test would screen for the condition, which is surprisingly common and, oftentimes, deadly.
The test is currently at the trial stage and works by measuring the blood proteins in the placenta during pregnancy.
“When it comes to this condition, there are two things you would like to predict: you'd like to know which women are at high risk of developing it, and which women are not,” Professor Shaun Brennecke, Director of the Department of Maternal-Foetal Medicine at the Royal Women’s Hospital, told The Huffington Post Australia.
“This is where this test comes in and, so far, we have seen optimistic results.”
As it stands, expectant mothers are screened through antenatal care for pre-eclampsia.
"Some women who are checked into an antenatal clinic may have features suspicious of the possibility of pre-eclampsia, but not yet a sufficiently high level to make the diagnosis,” Professor Brennecke said.
"These women need to be monitored more closely - an intervention that represents an imposition on the mother and a cost to the hospital.”
The new test will work by screening the blood released from the placenta for two specific proteins, which are found in women with pre-eclampsia.
The scientists behind the study say that the new tests will help improve management options for both mother and child.
"If a woman has low test results, the trial data shows she will have a 99 percent chance of not developing pre-eclampsia over the subsequent week, and a 95 percent chance over the next month," Brennecke said.
However, women measuring high results have a 40 percent chance of developing pre-eclampsia.
"Those women can be subjected to a more intensive regimen of surveillance with confidence that you're not wasting her time nor hospital resources to do so."
